Choices
by NancyLaj
Summary: Chapter 20 is now posted! Willow has a choice to make. One life for another. Tara/Willow/Kennedy
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I declare that I do not own these characters. They belong to the brilliant Joss Whedon. This is my first Buffy Fanfic, please be kind and reply.

Choices

Willow must make the choice between bringing Tara back to life but the price is a deep one, Kennedy's life.

Prologue

This story takes place after season 7. The gang and all of the potentials moved to a small town only about 10 miles from where Sunnydale used to be. Trona, is a small town but just like Sunnydale, there is a high amount of paranormal activities that occur. Instead of the HellMouth to worry about, the gang has to deal with the creatures coming out of Death Valley.

The Scooby Gang all moved into an old farm house just outside of Trona. There they decided to open their doors to all potentials, in order for them to work on their own slayer abilities. Xander, Buffy and Dawn live in the main house with 15 potentials. Spike lives in an underground crypt at the edge of the property while Willow and Kennedy live in the small cottage at the opposing end of the property.

Willow and Kennedy, have now been together for approximately 6 months. Kennedy at full Slayer abilities and Willow with more power than most gods, their relationship isn't perfect but they try. As this story begins, Buffy, Xander and Willow just defeated a demon, which was in the process of trying to kill a small girl.

Chapter 1.

"Now, that we have our 1 kill quota met, lets get back to the house. I don't want to worry the girls." Said Buffy as she walked around to where Willow and Xander were checking the little girl to make sure that she was all right.

Willow was holding the little girl's hand trying to comfort her. "Everything is going to be okay, the bad guy is all gone and he won't be coming back to hurt you, not now not ever." Just as the little girl looked into Willow's eyes, the little girl morphed into a 7-foot demon. Willow stood back and allowed Buffy to stand between her and the demon.

No one said anything for a few moments, everyone still trying to figure out what had just occurred. The demon looked at Willow and said: "I thank you for saving my life. Do not worry, I will not hurt you. In order to thank you for saving my life, I will grant you a wish. I will bring someone that you have lost back into your life but there is a price."

"Then isn't that not a wish? Wishes don't come with string." Xander added.

Buffy looked at Willow, she could tell that the witch was trying to figure out what the demon had said. "Will, ignore him. He is just trying to cause trouble. You and Xander go back to the house, I'll finish this demon off."

Willow ignored Buffy's request and walked around her, in order to get closer to the demon. She had to admit that she was curious to know what the demon had meant when he said that he would bring someone back into her life, someone that she had lost. "What do you mean?"

The demon laughed and continued. "Like I said, I will bring someone back into your life, someone that you thought would be gone forever."

Willow started and the demon and realized who he had meant. But it seemed to good to be true, she was only able to whisper the name. "...Tara..."

"The one and only. The love of your life. I can bring her back to you and you have to do is agree to the price."

Buffy didn't like the idea of bringing someone back from death, especially since she knew all the things that could go wrong. But she also knew that Willow still missed Tara even though she seemed happy about her new relationship with Kennedy. "Willow, this is wrong."

"Shut up, Buffy." Snapped Willow, her hair and eyes turning black for a moment before they went back to normal.

"Xander, help me. Convince her that this isn't a good idea. Trust me, I know from personal experience that the whole back from death thing isn't a good idea." Buffy stated.

Xander was unsure what to do. Here was a demon who promised Willow the thing that she wanted the most but at the same time, what if Tara was in heaven just like Buffy was and maybe she wouldn't want to come back. "I am neutral on this. I am Switzerland."

Willow, ignoring the other two, continued asking the demon. "Will she be normal? Will everything be alright? Will she be my Tara again or some sort of Zombie. And how can you do this? I have tried to bring her back to me but I was told that there was nothing that could be done because she was human and died a human's death. How are you able to do this, tell me."

The demon chuckled. "She will be exactly the way that she was the moment before she died. Like I mentioned there is a price, before I do anything. I need you to agree to the price. If you do not agree then there is no Tara."

"Tell me, I'll do anything. Just bring her back to me." Willow begged falling to her hands and knees in front of the demon.

The demon took her arm and stood her up. "There is no need to beg, you saved my life. I owe you that much. Plus we both know that you have tremendous power. More power than most demons. That is to be respected. Now to the price, it is simple. One life for another."

Buffy couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Take your wish and shove it. There is no way that Willow would agree to that. Tell him, Willow... Willow?"

Xander jumped in and said: "Buff, I think that she should make her own decision. You can't decide this for her."

"Like hell, I can't. There is no way that I am going to sit here and allow this demon to take an innocent life, especially since an innocent life will be taken." Buffy was about to take the sword to the demon, when Willow's powers slammed Buffy into the far wall.

"Buffy, stay out of this. This is my decision." Willow turned back to the demon and continued. "I will gladly give my life in order to Tara to live again."

"Willow, don't." Xander pleaded.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

"Willow, don't." Xander pleaded.

"Back off, Switzerland. This is my decision to make." Willow retorted.

"I know that but how about you take some time to think about this. It isn't like she'll be deader tomorrow than she is right now." Xander knew that he had said the wrong thing as soon as the words left his mouth.

Willow's hair and eyes turned back to black and she glared at the demon. "Take my life for that of Tara. I command you to fulfill the promise that you made."

The demon laughed and replied. "It is not your life that I want. I want the life of a Slayer, a Slayer that you love. Someone that you love almost as much as you loved Tara."

By this time, Buffy was standing beside Xander, they watched as Willow was surrounded by the dark power that had always been on the verge of coming out again. "If you want me, meat head, come and get me yourself."

Willow stepped away from the demon, the dark power leaving and changing her hair and eyes back to their normal color. "Buffy, he means Kennedy."

"Well he can't have her either."

The demon knew that he had already planted the idea in Willow's head and he knew that she wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of having her love back in her life. He knew that this would be a good time to leave for a while, in order for her to make the decision. "I give you three days to think about it. At sundown on the third day, if you choose, the exchange will take place. If you are not here, nothing in your life will change. Tara will remain dead and the Slayer will continue to slay." In that exact moment, the demon was gone.

"Willow, you are seriously thinking about taking this demon up on his offer, are you?" asked Xander.

"Of course, she isn't. Willow would never hurt Kennedy like that and plus she knows the dangers of bringing someone back from death. We don't even know if this is some sort of trap, we don't even know who this demon is. For all we know, this might be his M.O." Buffy responded.

"How about we let Willow answer."

Willow turned to meet their eyes. She had no clue about what to do next. She knew the dangers of bringing someone back to life; she was the one who orchestrated Buffy's return. Not knowing that Buffy wasn't in fact in hell, but in heaven. At the same time, she loved Tara more than anything but did she love her enough to kill Kennedy, the one person who helped her move on after Tara's death. "I think that we should research this demon. Find out everything about him."

The gang turned around and walked silently back to their new home.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: Please reply. Then more replied, the more it makes me want to write more.

Chapter. 3

Willow walked into her small cottage, the cottage that she shared with Kennedy. As she entered the small bedroom at the back of the cottage, she noticed that there was clothes scattered around the room. She shook her head and said to herself jokingly. "That girl will never clean up after herself." It was at that time that she heard the shower start. "God, that girl thinks that she is sneaky."

Willow lightly tapped on the bathroom door. Knock. Knock.

"Is that you Willow?" asked Kennedy, pretending not to already know.

Willow knew how this game went, they played it often. One of them would jump in the shower, knowing that the other one wouldn't be able to resist joining them. But with everything that she had on her mind, mostly the decision regarding both Kennedy and Tara, she knew that she couldn't be with Kennedy again till made a decision.

She sat on the edge of the bed thinking about the pros and cons of each decision. Then she suddenly thought to herself. "Wait, how can I do this? I mean I can't take Kennedy's life, I love her. But...God... I hate this. I miss Tara so much, I just want to be able to see her again, touch her again and hold her again. Will she come back to me the exact same way she left? Is she is heaven? Of course she is in heaven, she was an amazing person. There I go, talking about her in the past tense. I could change that."

Willow snapped out of her thoughts as she felt arms wrapping around her waist. She turned herself around, to where she was facing Kennedy. With their arms wrapped around each other and their faces only inches apart.

"My Will, why didn't you join me? I know that you normally shower when you get back from patrolling." Whispered Kennedy.

Willow lowered her eyes, she couldn't tell her about the decision that she had to make, she wouldn't understand. "I just have a lot on my mind. You know Scooby stuff. Sorry, if I am not in the cuddly mood. I heard something today that made me start thinking about a lot of things, life and that."

Kennedy slowly closed the distance between them, gently kissing Willow. Between kisses, she said: "All you need to do is clear your mind. I'll take care of the rest."

Willow squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from falling. Kennedy noticed the tears and pulled back a little. "What is wrong, honey? What happened today that's making you cry? Tell me and I'll go kick its ass."

Willow laughed slightly and stood on her toes to give Kennedy a small kiss on the forehead. "I just think that I need some time to think about things. Nothing happened today, nothing out of the ordinary. You know the usual demon killing. Don't worry about me, I am strong. I am strong because of you."

Kennedy knew that Willow was hiding something but she didn't want to push. Especially if it had to do with Tara. Anything regarding Tara still seemed to push Willow over the edge, emotionally and magically. But she knew that she would have to hold on to Willow with all her strength, she didn't want to lose the most amazing woman that she knew, to a ghost. "My Will, you're strong because you are you. There never has been another Willow and there never will be. And I am yours."

Willow took her arms from around Kennedy and walked around to the edge of the bed and started folding clothes. She knew that she had to change the subject and pretend that she was happy because if she didn't, Kennedy was going to hound her about what happened the whole time. And Willow didn't know if she even wanted to tell Kennedy about what the demon had said, she needed to think about it first. She needed to find out more about this demon. "How many girls are in the library?"

Kennedy could tell that Willow was trying to find a way out of the conversation, she knew that it was better if she just followed suit. "I think there are a couple of them. Most of the other "potentials" are in town, shopping with Dawn. I can kick them out of the library for you."

Willow laughed; she knew that Kennedy loved being in charge of the "potentials" even though they now had pretty much equal strength and power. "If you don't mind. There is something that I'd like to research. How about you go ahead, I'll meet you in there in a few."

Kennedy walked up to Willow and passionately kissed her. Before leaving, she whispered. "I'll be there waiting for you." She then left Willow alone in the bedroom as she headed to the attic in the small cottage, an attic that they converted into a library. Somewhere for Willow to do her spells quietly, for research to go on for hours and a place where you knew that most of the other potentials would never enter, unless forced.

As she climbed up the attic stairs, she could here a couple of the younger girls giggling in the stacks. "Out! Now! Willow needs this room to be cleared, and she needs it cleared now!" Kennedy ordered the girls, and without a moments notice, three young girls scurried out of the room and down the stairs.

Kennedy started lighting candles for Willow; she heard footsteps behind her. "Willow, babe, do you want me to pull out the pillows for us or do you actually want to do some research beforehand?"

"So that is what you girls do when you complain about researching all night." Replied Xander.

Kennedy turned around, slightly embarrassed asked: "What do you want, Xander? Willow wants this room cleared out of something."

"She didn't tell you?" inquired Xander.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Willow sat on the bed, when she knew that Kennedy was up in the attic. She knew that she only had a few moments to cry before she had to head to the attic.

After about 5 minutes of crying, Willow heard a light knocking on the bedroom door. She looked up quickly, afraid that Kennedy had come back to get her. But there stood Xander, he was just leaning against the doorframe.

"What are you doing, Will?" asked Xander.

"I am not doing anything, nothing right now anyways. And hush about what happened earlier. I don't want anyone to know about this. Okay? You have to promise me." Pleaded Willow.

"There is a chance that Kennedy's going to be back here asking some questions. I sort of let it slip that something big happened today."

"Xander... How can you do this to me?"

"Willow, relax for a minute. How did I that you were going to hide this from your girlfriend? As far as I know, you always tell her everything."

Willow got up from the bed and tried to walk out of the room, but Xander stepped in front of her, to block her from leaving. He knew that there was the very real possibility that Willow follow her emotions and not what was right.

"Xander, move. I need to start researching this demon." Willow tried to move past him again and again, Xander blocked her way.

He pulled her into his arms and just hugged her. After a couple of minutes, he could feel her sobs; she had been trying to keep them in. "Sssshhhhh...We'll figure this out, we always do."

"Tara... I want Tara back. She died too young, she was my other half. And I can have her back. But Kennedy, she is my rock. She supports me and my magic, she knows what I can do and she isn't scared of me. I can't lose her, I can't lose someone else that I love." Willow cried.

Xander pulled her away from him, just enough to where they were facing each other. "That is what Buffy and I were talking about. Nothing needs to change, Kennedy can live and the two of you can live happily ever after. I know that you miss Tara, we all miss her. But we also know that she is in a better place, she's in heaven. An angel, probably your guardian angel. She is happy now and I bet that she is watching us right now."

"I know but its Tara. I can hold her again, kiss her again, and be with her again. But I know what you mean. Just let me research this demon, let me try and find another way." Willow tried to leave the room again, this time Xander let her.

Once she left the room, Xander said to himself: "Willow, I hope you know what you are doing."

In the Library (Attic)

As Willow walked into the library, she tried to recompose herself. She could let Kennedy see her with tears in her eyes, or she would just have more questions. Willow noticed that Kennedy had taken the time to light every single candle, knowing that was the way that Willow liked it. Fresh tears began to flood her eyes; she knew that she couldn't lose someone that she loved, not for anything. But she also knew that she had to try and find a way of bringing Tara back without losing Kennedy.

Kennedy watched as Willow walked into the room. She knew that something was wrong; just by the way that Willow was acting. Kennedy thought that it was cute that Willow was under the impression that she hid her emotions well. Kennedy knew that both Xander and Buffy knew what was wrong but she also knew that they would never betray Willow's trust, not unless it was something really important. "Gorgeous, tell me what is on your mind."

Willow's head snapped up as she heard Kennedy's voice. "Umm, nothing. Well, actually there is something. You know that Buffy, Xander and I went to kill a demon today."

"Just like every other day, that's nothing new." Kennedy interrupted. When she realized that Willow was not continuing, she added. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Just tell me what is wrong. I don't need to know all the details."

"I am not sure if I should tell you." Willow battled with the decision in her head. She knew that Kennedy had a right to know because it did have to do with her life. But Willow also knew that Kennedy wouldn't understand what it would mean to have Tara alive again.

Kennedy didn't like how Willow was acting. There was something seriously wrong and she knew that it had to be pretty bad for Willow not to tell her. But when Kennedy thought back to the last couple of months, Willow had begun to keep more and more to herself. It kept Kennedy on edge. "Willow! Stop this! I'm your girlfriend, if you can't tell me what happened, then I am going to start believing that you don't care about me anymore, you don't care about us."

"Honey, don't be mad at me. Fine, I'll tell you. Today's demon gave me a choice. He can bring Tara back to life."

That thought scared the hell out of Kennedy. Tara. The woman who still held Willow's heart, even after death. "Go on, there has to be more because she isn't here. What does this demon want?"

"You. He wants your life for Tara's."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter

Chapter. 5

"You. He wants your life for Tara's."

Kennedy started to laugh, she could not believe what she was actually hearing. "You've got to be kidding me. Please Will, tell me that this is some sort of twisted joke or something. Hey, this is a slayer assignment, right? I just need to pass the test and everything will be all right. Right?" She pleaded with her eyes for Willow to give her the answer that she so terribly needed.

Willow could see the pain and confusion in Kennedy's eyes. She loved Kennedy; Kennedy was her anchor, when she needed someone. But Tara was still the person that Willow dreamt of at night. Willow tried to think of an answer that wouldn't make Kennedy mad or upset, but in the end she realized that anything that she would say about this situation would upset her. "I'm not lying to you, Kennedy. He wants your life for Tara's. He promised me that he would bring her back as good as new. And for some odd reason, I believe him."

"Because of Tara? Willow, I am not stupid. I know that you still love her, even after she dead but to bring her back? And I thought that you loved me?"

Willow's heart broke when she heard Kennedy's question. "Oh honey, I do love you and I promise you that I won't let anything happen to you." She walked towards Kennedy and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist.

Kennedy looked into Willow's eyes, she saw worry and at the same time, Kennedy could have sworn that she saw a plan forming in Willow's head. "What are you thinking?"

Willow knew what she wanted to do but what she didn't know was if it was even possible. She also knew that no one was going to let her do what she had planned; they would all tell her that it was too dangerous. "Just know that no matter what, I love you."

"Willow, you're scaring me. Just let me know what I can do to help you." Kennedy said as she kissed Willow on the forehead.

Willow closed her eyes, just to enjoy the kiss. But she knew that she did need help especially since she only had 3 days left to plan Tara's return. "You can help me by researching this demon that made me the offer. I mean I know that you hate researching, so you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Do you want to?"

Kennedy laughed and pulled away from Willow, she walked up to the light switch and turned on the lights, she then picked up the book closest to her. "I guess there goes my idea for romancing you tonight."

It took Willow a second to realize that Kennedy had said it as a joke. But the young witch knew that this slayer was capable of anything.

-- --

3 days later –

Kennedy looked up at the clock, there was only 2 hours left before Willow had to face this demon, a demon that wanted Kennedy dead. But she believed Willow when she said that she wouldn't let anything happen to her, she knew how powerful her girl was. Both as a witch and a woman. But the one thought that Kennedy couldn't get out of her mind was the fact that she had no clue what Willow's plan entailed. She didn't know whether Willow intended on actually bringing Tara back. How could she not? Kennedy knew that Willow would always love Tara more than she would ever love her. But what would happen to them as a couple, if Tara came back? Would Willow leave her, or would she stick by her side? Did Kennedy even want to stay around when she knew that she would never compare to Tara. Everyone always spoke so highly of her as if she were a goddess or something. Kennedy was interrupted from her thoughts as she heard Willow talk in her sleep.

"Tara….then Demon. Both my girls safe…"

Kennedy moved closer to her sleeping girlfriend. Willow had fallen asleep only a couple of hours before, she wasn't able to keep her eyes open after being awake for almost 3 days straight. Kennedy had to admit, when Willow put her mind to something, nothing would stop her until she finished it. Kennedy hated the fact that she would have to wake Willow up in a couple of minutes but she also wanted to hear more of what Willow was saying in her sleep.

"Worse comes to worse, he can have me…"

Kennedy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Willow was going to sacrifice herself to save her and bring Tara back. It was at this moment, that Kennedy knew she had to put her own plan into place.

First, she had to wake Willow up. Kennedy laid down beside her and started kissing her gently. Willow slowly opened her eyes; she smiled as she saw Kennedy smiling back at her. "Is it time yet?" Willow asked.

"It is, we need to start walking there if we are going to get there in time. First though, I want to grab some weapons from the house. How about I meet you back here in 10 minutes?"

Willow had to admit, she did want to be left alone with her thoughts for a few minutes before she had to meet with the demon. "Okay, remember be sneaky. The others think that we are leaving later. I don't want them to be there, it could be dangerous. I hate to even put you in this danger, especially since you don't deserve any of this but I can't go through with my plan if you're not there."

Kennedy got up off the pillows that were thrown all over the floor. Before she left the library, she turned to Willow and said: "No matter what happens today, I want you to remember that I love you and if this become some sort of battle, I'm fighting right along side you." Before Willow could argue with her, Kennedy ran down the stairs and out of the cabin.

Willow watched through the window as Kennedy ran towards the main house. She knew what she needed to do. Bring Tara back. Her Tara. Even if that meant killing the demon herself before it could go after Kennedy. It scared Willow, knowing the dark magic that she had to conjure in order to kill this demon. She was terrified that her dark powers could take over again, just like they did when Tara was killed. But things had to be done. Willow knew this.

-- --

Ten minutes later, Kennedy was running back up the path to the cottage. While she was getting her weapons, she told Buffy, Xander and Dawn about what she had heard Willow say in her sleep.

She told them her plan to save Willow, she needed them to hide until the demon showed his true colors, then everyone needed to help her kill this demon before it could hurt Willow or anyone else. They agreed to her plan and had already left for the cave. Buffy decided that they needed to stake out the place before either the demon or Willow find out that they are there.

Both Willow and Kennedy headed up the trail to the cave, in silence. They just held each other's hand, letting the other one know that they would do anything they could to save the other's life.

As they appeared at the cave's entrance both women looked at each other. Willow was the first to speak: "Kennedy, I don't know what's going to happen in there but I need you to know that I love you. You showed me that I was strong when I was scared. You are my anchor, I'll need you to be my anchor again."

Kennedy's eyes filled with tears, she couldn't say a thing. So she decided to kiss Willow, letting her lips do the talking. In the back of her mind, she knew that this could very well be the last time that she kissed her.

Willow pulled away and looked at the horizon. "Sun down." was all that she said before she walked into the cave.

As soon as the women walked into the cave, a cave door suddenly appeared blocking their only way out. They turned around when they heard a loud cry to find the demon standing there, with biggest smile on his face.

"I knew that you'd make the right decision."

"Where's Tara?" Willow needed her plan to work.

"She is close. But I want the slayer first." The demon started walking towards Kennedy. Willow blocked his path. Her hair was now black as were her eyes.

"Get away from her. The deal is Tara for this slayer. Meaning Tara comes first then this one." She ordered as she pointed to Kennedy.

Kennedy was terrified; this was the evil Willow that the others talked about. This was the Willow that didn't care if someone lived or died. But Kennedy had to believe that this was part of her Willow's plan.

The demon stepped back, he didn't know how much power this little witch had, but he had the feeling that he didn't want to soon find out. He just wanted the slayer, that's it. A slayer's blood would help him gain more strength than he ever had. He didn't care if it meant that he had to curse himself with eternal life in order to bring this dead girl back to her lover. It was gain / gain for him. Eternal Life and Extra Strength. 'This is going to be a good day.' He thought to himself.

"Alright, calm down. Here is how we'll do this. I give you the dead girl and as soon as she's in your arms, I get the slayer."

Fire exploded from around Willow. She felt the darkness try to take over her soul again, she couldn't let it. She refused to allow Tara to see her like this. But Willow knew that it was necessary in order to get Tara back and to keep Kennedy alive.

"Fine! Do it now!"

The demon was becoming intimidated, he knew that he should start fast and then get the slayer and leave. He started to chant: "My life, my soul in damned. Bring another back to her heart's home."

Suddenly in the corner of the cave, a ball of smoke appeared. And when the smoke cleared, it was clear that someone was crumpled on the ground on the other side. At first, no one could tell who it was.

Willow knew that her planned had worked. She could feel the missing piece of her heart, slowly start to mend. It was Tara, her Tara. The figure started to move, Willow smiled as their eyes met.

"Willow…." Tara's eyes widened with a combination of confusion and fear, she had no idea where she was or how she got there. Willow looked back at her smiling, but Tara remained terrified. The beautiful red head that she fell in love with, wasn't the same person who stood before her. This Willow's eyes were black and so was her hair. This Willow was filled with dark energy.

Willow almost forgot what was happening around her, suddenly she noticed Kennedy start to walk towards the demon, getting ready to fight him. "Don't touch her."

The demon stopped in his tracks, he turned towards the witch. "I gave you what you wanted and now I am taking what I was promised. The slayer."

Out of nowhere, Buffy appeared, ready to fight. "I'm the Slayer, you just have a cheap imitation in front of you." The demon was frozen in shock, he had been tricked. He would not let her get away with this. "Time of Past. Have her get what she lost. Have her leave what she found…" Suddenly the cave went dark and the cave door opened again. But no one noticed the door because at that moment, there was a scream. Willow.

Xander hurried to find some source of light, he then remembered that he brought along a large flashlight. As he scanned the room, he saw her laying on the ground, a pool of blood around her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Chapter. 6

"Willow!" Buffy screamed as she saw Xander shine the light over Willow's body. She was covered in blood and she wasn't moving. Buffy rushed to her side. "Will, wake up! You have to wake up." It was then that Buffy noticed where the blood was coming from. Willow had a hole in her chest, a bullet hole. Buffy knew that she had to do something and fast or her best friend was going to die. "Xander, run home and call 911, bring the jeep and tell the ambulance that we'll meet them at the main road. Hurry!"

Xander glanced back and forth to Willow and Buffy. He had a feeling that there wasn't much time left for his best friend. Without a word, he took off, out of the cave.

"Willow wake up! Come on, hold on. Xander will be back soon." Buffy placed Willow's head on her lap, and held her hand over the wound. She knew that she had to try and stop the bleeding. Buffy noticed the blood start to seep through her fingers.

Kennedy couldn't believe what was going on in front of her. The love of her life was laying lifeless on the ground. Knowing that she couldn't give up on Willow, Kennedy rushed to Buffy's side. Kennedy couldn't believe the amount of blood that Willow had already lost, that was also the moment that Kennedy noticed Willow's hair turn back to its natural red color. She opened her backpack, filled with supplies, and pulled out the first aid kit. Kennedy didn't know how much it would help, but she had to do something.

Dawn climbed out of her hiding spot. Even though she had grown up with the Scoobies, Dawn still hid when danger appeared. As she ran around the corner towards the source of the yelling, she stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed Tara standing just a few feet away. She ran up to the woman and wrapped her arms around her.

Tara was so confused. The last thing that she remembered was hearing a large bang and seeing blood splatter on Willow's shirt. Then suddenly she woke up in this cave, how did she get here? Why did the love of her life appear to be filled with dark energy? Now Willow was laying on the ground, fighting for her life. The Willow on the ground, was her Willow, not the same person she saw when she first woke up. That was when Tara suddenly felt someone hug her. She turned her head to see who it was and her eyes began to fill with tears as she turned to Dawn.

"Tara… Your back! Willow's plan worked. Are you okay? Were you in heaven? Where's Willow?" Dawn asked.

Tara didn't trust her voice; she didn't trust herself not to break down in front of the young woman. She just looked over towards Buffy and another girl. They were trying to stop the blood that was coming from her soul mate's motionless body.

Dawn followed Tara's eyes; she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Buffy was pressing a blood soaked rag over Willow's chest. Dawn looked up at Tara; she didn't understand why Tara wasn't working along side Buffy and Kennedy, trying to keep Willow alive. "Why aren't you helping to save Willow's life?" Dawn screamed.

Dawn's question was all that Tara needed to snap her back into reality. Her Willow was dying right in front of her and she wasn't even helping. Tara gently pushed Dawn away then ran to her lover's side. As soon as she knelt beside Willow, she could have sworn that she heard the young woman beside her growl. But the only thing that she could think about was keeping Willow alive until some help arrived. She had no idea what just happened but now wasn't a time to find out. Her Willow needed her and she was not going to let the love of her life die.

Buffy noticed Tara knell beside her. Tara took the rag from Buffy's hand and placed it on the wound, herself. Buffy's eyes shifted from Willow to Tara, then to onto Kennedy, who was just sitting there rocking herself as she held onto Willow's hands. "Willow, you have to make it. You are the only person who can make this situation right." Buffy told herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Chapter. 7

Suddenly Xander ran into the cave. "I have the jeep ready and the ambulance will be waiting for us. Hurry!" He ran over to Willow's small and fragile body and lifted her up; he looked at Tara and saw the worry, fear and confusion in the gentle woman's eyes. "Let's get going!"

Buffy, Dawn and Kennedy ran to the jeep and cleared the back seat. As Xander and Tara got to the jeep, Tara climbed in and waited for Xander to place Willow on her lap. She noticed Xander hesitate for a second; he looked at the young woman, who had tear-stained cheeks.

Xander knew that this wasn't a time to pick who got to hold Willow. Willow needed him to be strong and he refused to let her down. He gently placed Willow's head on Tara's lap then ran around to driver's side.

Within minutes they were at the main road, but the distance felt anything but short to the 5 people who all knew that they could easily lose their friend. They traveled in silence, each one's mind still swirling with what had just happened.

Buffy, who was sitting in the middle of the front seat, couldn't believe what her best friend had just done. She knew deep down that Willow was going to do whatever needed to be done in order for Tara to live again. But she never thought that Willow would bring Tara back and then risk her own life. Buffy looked to her right, Kennedy was sitting beside her. She noticed that both she and Kennedy were covered in blood, Willow's blood. Buffy knew that she would never know how Kennedy was feeling but she did know that the young slayer's life was about to change. Especially now that Tara was back.

A part of Buffy was happy to have her friend back but she also worried that Willow may have made the wrong decision in taking the demon's offer. Not only did Willow's decision affect her life but it also affected Tara, Kennedy and everyone else's as well.

Buffy had also taken a liking to the young slayer. Kennedy had been the first one to really reach Willow when they thought that the old Willow was gone forever. It was also Kennedy who picked up the pieces of a broken Willow. Tara had no idea what Willow had been through but Buffy knew that it hadn't been the witch's fault that she had been shot. Buffy prayed that Willow survived because she knew that Willow was the only one who could fix the situation.

Kennedy simply stared straight ahead. She knew that she couldn't look into the back seat and see her girlfriend's lifeless body laying on another woman's lap. In any normal situation, Kennedy knew that she would have fought to be the one to hold the witch but Willow's life was more important to her right now than the jealousy she felt towards Tara. 'My stupid Willow. God, I love you. I know that you know that, so why did you have to do something so stupid? I mean it's Monday night; you should be sitting on our porch, reading, while I train. Now, I don't even know if that will ever happen again. I need to see your bright green eyes, smiling at me. I can't think like this. I'm a slayer and slayers never give up, especially on the ones that they love.' Buffy had taught her that. 'I'm going to be right by your side as you beat this, and I know that you can because you have more power and strength than any other being in this world. But I promise you, Willow, I'm not giving you up without a fight.'

Dawn couldn't stop shaking; she kept trying to remind herself why she volunteered to go on this mission with them. She never wanted to see Willow hurt. Willow was a second big sister to her. Dawn actually felt closer to Willow than she did to Buffy. When Buffy had died the second time, it was Willow and Tara who had stepped in, without a hesitation and took care of her. Dawn remembered the day she found Tara's lifeless body; except that day no longer seemed real because now Tara was sitting right beside her, and she was very much alive. This time it wasn't Tara who had been shot, it was Willow. For a brief moment, Dawn and Tara's eyes met. Tara looked as though she was lost, yet Dawn could see the love that the blond witch had for Willow. Suddenly something inside of Dawn, told her that it is likely Tara's love that was keeping her alive.

Tara let her fingers comb through Willow's blood-matted hair. 'My Willow, you have to keep fighting. Everyone here needs you, I need you. You just have to hold on a little while longer then the doctors will take good care of you.' Tara hoped that Willow was somehow able to hear her thoughts. She had no idea what was happening, everything felt different. Even her Willow was different. Tara knew that she hadn't just imagined the darkness that had radiated from her lover. Willow's eyes and hair had even changed to a dark black color. Tara wondered who the young woman, next to Buffy, was. 'Who is she? Why is she here? Why are we here? What happened? Why did that girl growl at me?' The questions continued to race through her head. One thing that Tara did know was that the young woman was stronger than normal, almost as strong as Buffy. All of Tara's thoughts disappeared the moment she saw the waiting ambulance.

The next few moments, were total chaos as the paramedics raced to save Willow's life. Only one person was allowed to go into the ambulance with her. Everyone looked at each other, all knowing that they wanted to be the one who stayed with Willow. Buffy decided that she was going to be the one in charge. She felt as though the others were too emotional when it came to Willow. Buffy knew that she was also emotional when it came to Willow but she also knew how to think in slayer-survival mode. And that is what Willow needed now.

-- --

Xander couldn't believe that he could lose his best friend, only months after losing his own soul mate. He resented the fact that Willow was the cause of all this, if she just hadn't taken the demon's offer, everything would be normal. No one's life would be in immediate danger. He wished that the ambulance would drive faster as he followed it to the hospital. The tension in the jeep grew as the time past. Most of it was coming from the person in the passenger seat. Kennedy. He could tell that she was about to blow and he only hoped that they could make it to the hospital, in one piece, before she did. And it was obvious to whom the tension was towards, Tara, who had remained silent in the back seat. Dawn had decided to stay at the school with the young slayers, in order to keep them occupied until they had more news on Willow. Xander knew that the school was likely in an uproar because of what had happened, especially since Willow was so loved by everyone.

Xander's attention was suddenly drawn to his right as he watched Kennedy as she punched a hole into the stereo. "Ken, your hand okay?" He asked softly, breaking the silence.

Kennedy just glared back at him. "Shut up and drive, Xander. The music was pissing me off."

"You could have just turned it off." Xander replied.

Kennedy continued to glare at him.

"Okay, okay. I'll shut up now. But she'll be okay, she has to be." Xander finished.

Tara watched the interaction between Xander and the dark-haired woman. He had called her 'Ken'. Was that short for something, Tara wondered. Who was she? Who was she to Willow? She must be important enough to Willow, that Xander and Buffy allowed her to come, instead of leaving her back at the house with Dawn. The house, Tara thought. They weren't in Sunnydale anymore. Tara had no idea where they were, but she could tell that the Scoobies had been there awhile, there had also been a lot of other people at the home, as well. She had felt that similar Buffy-like power coming from all of the young women that she had briefly seen. The feeling was intoxicating.

Tara began to pray to the Goddess, she prayed for her to watch over Willow. Tara wanted nothing more than to see Willow again, she needed Willow to explain everything to her. Tara knew that she had to stay strong for Willow, Willow needed her right now. She had to believe that everything would be okay. But there had been so much blood. Tara didn't know how so much blood could come from Willow's tiny body. She wondered how Willow could still possibly be alive, after losing that much blood. Tara smiled softly as she realized the reason why; a combination of love and magic. Tara had always known that Willow was an extremely powerful witch but it had been that same power that tore them apart. It was Willow's inability to see how dangerous magic can be, that ended their relationship. But after five months of emotional torture, they returned to each other. Both women knew that they could never be whole without the other. Willow had given up magic for their love. Except that wasn't what Tara had seen in the cave. That Willow had been consumed with dark magic.

Tara's thoughts where broken when she realized that they were pulling into the hospital parking lot. As soon as the jeep was stopped, the dark haired woman jumped out and took off, with great speed, to the emergency room entrance. Tara climbed out of the back seat, and saw Xander waiting for her. They walked in silence towards the doors, Xander had his arm around Tara lending her support, and she didn't trust her legs not to just give out on her.

Once inside the emergency room waiting room, they noticed Buffy and Kennedy arguing in the corner of the room.

"How can you leave her alone in there?" Kennedy yelled.

"I had to! The doctors need to work on her." Buffy replied calmly.

"How is she?" Xander asked.

Buffy lowered her head, and softly answered. "We almost lost her once on the ride over here, but the paramedic was able to get her heart beating again. I think that she's stable now but the doctors want us to wait in here until they have further news."

Tara needed to sit down. She couldn't believe what she had heard. They almost lost Willow. She knew that she wouldn't be able to live without her Willow tree. Tara had to keep reminding herself that Willow was still alive and that needed her to be strong. Once she was sitting down, she was joined by both Buffy and Xander. Tara looked up at the young woman, who was now pacing at the other end of the hall, she reminded Tara of a caged animal.

Buffy took Tara's hand into her own. She watched as Tara slowly lifted her head and removed the hair from in front of her eyes. Their eyes met. Buffy could tell that Tara was worried but she also saw great confusion. Tara's eyes kept darting between Kennedy pacing and the blood on her own hands. "Tara…" Buffy began softly. "Tell me what your thinking."

Tara's pulled her hand away from Buffy's as she began to examine to blood that covered her clothes. "There is just so much that I don't know. Why did all this happen?"

Kennedy heard Tara's reply and answered. "This is happening because of you, if you hadn't died. Willow would still be here. If she dies, it is your fault…."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Chapter. 8

Buffy interrupted Kennedy before she could continue. She had noticed the look on Tara's face when Kennedy had said that Tara had died. "Kennedy! Get the hell outside, go blow off some steam."

"You can't make me do anything. We're equals now." Kennedy stated. The young slayer wasn't going to let the older one tell her what do to especially if it had to do with Willow.

Buffy knew that she had to get Kennedy out of the hospital, before she blew up. She had seen Kennedy's temper flare before but that was usually in battle and Willow was always there to calm her back down. This time Buffy knew that she has to be the one to do it. "Kennedy, how about we just go for a walk? Breathe in the fresh air. The doctor's said that they would be awhile." Buffy could tell that Kennedy was about continue to make a scene in the waiting room, so she continued. "You are going to get yourself kicked out of here. How is that going to help Willow? How are you going to feel when the hospital bans you from coming to visit her? Think for a minute, Kennedy. How about we go outside and talk?"

Kennedy flashed another angry look towards Tara, then stormed out of the waiting room, Buffy quick to follow behind her.

Xander then realized that Buffy had left it up to him to clue Tara in on everything that had happened, especially since it was clear to everyone that Tara didn't have a clue that she had died almost 2 years before. He was happy that he wasn't the one to follow Kennedy; he knew that she needed to work out her anger and he didn't want to be the one used as a punching bag.

He glanced over at Tara, she was staring straight ahead. He took her hand and pulled her towards him, so that she was looking at him. "Tara, a lot has gone on since you've been gone."

Tara looked at Xander; she noticed for the first time that he was wearing an eye patch. "Did..I..I really die?"

Xander only nodded.

"How?" Tara asked.

"What's the last thing that you remember?"

"Well I remember you and Buffy in the backyard, Willow and I were hoping that you guys were making up. Suddenly there was this loud bang and then I saw blood on Willow's shirt. The next thing that I knew, I was waking up in that cave. That wasn't Willow standing there in the middle of the room. That wasn't my Willow. What happened to her?"

Xander was unsure on how to begin; he decided to tell her everything. He knew that was what Willow would want him to do. "Tara, the loud bang that you heard was a gun shot. Both you and Buffy were shot. Buffy survived. You didn't. Willow was alone in the bedroom and watched you die in her arms. She lost it, that's when that dark version of Willow came out. She tried to destroy the world; she couldn't see the world continuing to exist without you in it. The man that shot you was one of the geek squad, Warren. Lets just say that Evil Willow skinned him alive then torched his body. She was so devastated, that our smiling and happy Willow wasn't the one in control of her magic anymore. Like I said before she tried to end the world. I was able to stop her, but is wasn't easy."

Tara glanced towards the eye patch, and asked: "Did she do that to you?"

"No. No. This was a demon thingy. I was just saying that Giles then had to bring Willow with him back to England. She was there for quite awhile; she had to learn to control the magic. Even when she came back, she was scared to use any magic. But with the First Evil trying to end the world, we needed her. We needed her get figure out that she could still use magic and still stay in control. It took awhile, the First was getting stronger then the watcher's council was blown up. After that potential slayers and their watchers were being killed off in scary numbers. We knew that we needed to do something, that's when the potentials started to move in, so that we could protect them."

"What happened? Where are we?" Tara asked. She still couldn't grasp the fact that he told had her that she had died. And after she died, Willow allowed the darkness and grief to control her. Willow's bright light had been seriously darkened but in the end, she had gotten help, help to control the magic.

Xander looked over at the clock, they had already been waiting over an hour. He quickly glanced over to the waiting room door, hoping that Willow would just walk into the room, with a smile on her face and tell them that she was ready to go home. Life would back to normal. But deep down, he knew that it wasn't going to happen that way. He looked back at Tara and continued. "You should be proud of her, Willow is the reason that we are all still alive, she's the reason that Buffy's not the only slayer anymore."

"Buffy….isn't the only one. I me…mean I know about… Faith?"

Xander smiled as he replied. "Now every potential doesn't have to wait till the slayer dies, when they turn 15 years old, they automatically have their slayer powers. And to answer your questions, Sunnydale is gone; we are in a small town not to far from where Sunnydale used to be. Buffy, Willow and me run something like a school for slayers. But there's others who help us, too."

"So all those young girls that I saw back at the house, are slayers?" Tara asked, she knew that she was becoming more and more confused but she wanted to know everything that had happened since her death. Tara still had a lot of questions like if she was supposed to be dead, why was she back? And why was Willow possibly dying somewhere in this hospital?

"Every single one of them."

Xander's response snapped Tara back to reality. All those young women, some of them were still children. That was when Tara thought back to the young woman, who Buffy had escorted out of the waiting room. She couldn't understand why this Kennedy girl could feel so much hatred towards her, when she didn't even know her. "What about that young one that Buffy called Kennedy? Why is she here? Why is she so angry?"

Xander had tried to avoid the topic; he had hoped that Willow would have woken up by now, so that she could have explained this to Tara, herself. "Tara, you know that Willow loves you more than anything, right?"

Tara nodded. She didn't like the way he was starting his answer.

"After you died, it was like a part of Willow died too. She avoided everyone and barely talked anymore. Then the potential slayers started to move into Buffy's house. One of the first girls to move in was Kennedy. I think that she probably was going to be the next slayer in line, anyways."

"But why is she mad? I thought that being a slayer was a good thing."

"She's the complete opposite of you. Willow knew that she couldn't move on with someone that reminded her of you." Xander knew that what he was about to say would hurt Tara, but he knew that Kennedy would say something soon, if he didn't. "Sure, Kennedy could be a handful. But right now, it's because she's worried about Willow and this is how she deals with stress. She's a lot calmer when Willow's around. She's still a brat but at least she's not an immediate turn-to-violence slayer. When the world was coming to its end and we thought that the First Evil was going to win, Willow saved the world by rewriting history. Kennedy was her anchor and she's the one who keeps Willow from going over the edge again."

It took a couple of minutes for Tara to realize what Xander was actually saying. Kennedy was angry because she was grieving for Willow, because she loved Willow. Willow was now in love with someone else. 'She only found love again because I died. But now I'm back, so we can be together again. But I don't want to hurt Kennedy either.' Tara couldn't blame Kennedy for falling in love with Willow. Her beautiful Willow tree. She knew that Willow still loved her but she wondered if Willow loved Kennedy more. "They're together?"

Xander nodded.

"How long?" Tara felt like she needed to know.

"About six months now. Tara, I'm her best friend so trust me when I say that Willow loves you more than anything else in this world. That's why I know that she is going to make it through this. You guys were meant to be together forever, the only reason that Willow's with Kennedy is because you died. She tried to bring you back but everything she tried ended up giving her the same answer. You were…are human and died a human death, no magic would bring you back."

"But how then how am I here?"

Xander hated this part of the story, the part that reminded him why he could lose his best friend. "We saved a demon and the demon offered Willow the chance to have you back. The price was Kennedy's life. Willow ended up taking his offer then suddenly you were there. You know how the rest goes."

Tara nodded; she knew that she had a lot to think about.

-- --

Buffy followed Kennedy outside. Sure the girl pretended to be rough and tough, and most of the time she pulled it off. Except for when she looked at Willow, Buffy knew that Kennedy's weakness was the witch that she loved so much.

Buffy thought that she was going to have to fight with Kennedy in order for her to tell her what she was feeling. But as soon as they were outside, Kennedy started rambling. Buffy wasn't sure if Kennedy was talking to her or to herself. She followed closer in order to better hear what Kennedy was saying.

"I mean, who is she to think that just because she is alive, I'm going to give Willow up. I'm going to fight for her. And how could Willow put herself in danger? Why would she do that to me? I thought that she loved me." Kennedy couldn't grasp what was going on. Sure, she had seen some pretty weird things since she found out about the whole slayer thing but bringing someone back from the dead. And her girlfriend's the one who did it. Willow made the decision to bring Tara back, without even thinking of the consequences that that decision would have on their relationship.

"Ken, she does love you. If she didn't want to be with you, she wouldn't be with you. You make her happy, you're the reason that Willow still smiles. I don't know what's going to happen in an hour or in the next day. But what I do know is that everything happens for a reason, and that we are all family, no matter what." Buffy was about to hug Kennedy when her cell phone started the ring. After answering it. She turned to Kennedy and said: "It's about Willow. Xander says that the doctors are ready to talk to us. Lets go." Before Buffy could finish she sentence, she realized that Kennedy had already taken off towards the emergency room entrance.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Chapter. 9

The doctor looked at the group of young adults, he could tell that the last couple of hours had been torture for them. They were still covered in dry blood, their friend's blood. "Ms. Rosenberg is stable. The surgery to fix the damage was successful. She still isn't out of the woods yet. But like I said before, she's stable and that is the best that we could hope for with an injury like hers."

Kennedy just wanted to know one thing. "Is she awake?"

The doctor lowered his head and replied: "No, she's still unconscious. With the drugs that were giving to sedate her for the surgery, she'll be asleep at least until morning. We don't know how long before she wakes up. But the longer that is lasts, the more unlikely it will be that she'll ever wake up."

"Can we see her?" Buffy asked. She needed to see her best friend alive, even if she wasn't conscious.

"Only for a few minutes, then I want you guys to go home and get some sleep. Come back in the morning and hopefully by then we'll have better news to give you." The doctor lead the small group down the hall, to a large room, filled with machines and wires. The doctor continued: "She'll be moved from this room probably later on tonight, once we're sure that she's stable. Tomorrow, she'll be in a more comfortable room. I'll let you guys be alone with her, if you need me for anything, I'll be just down the hall. And remember, you can only stay with her for a few minutes tonight."

Everyone nodded, acknowledging that they had all heard the doctor. But all their eyes were locked onto Willow's small body, lost in the large hospital bed, surrounded by machines.

Tara was the first one to walk over to Willow's side. She took her hand in her own and softly said: "My Willow, you have to continue fighting this thing. Everyone here loves you and doesn't want to lose you. I know everything that has happened since I've….been gone, and I'm so sorry that you had to go through so much pain. But we'll talk about that later. You have to be strong right now, strong like an Amazon. I promise you that I'll be back tomorrow, first thing in the morning." Tara gently kissed Willow's hand and lowered it back onto the bed. She turned to Xander and wrapped her arms around him, for support.

Xander knew that Willow would expect him to take care of Tara at a time like this and he took his job very seriously. "Hey Will, don't worry about anything. I promise that I won't touch anything in your library until you can yell at me yourself for touching your rare toys."

Everyone looked at him, oddly.

Kennedy was the one to correct Xander's poor choice of words. "He means her orbs and stone. Those kind of things." She moved from beside Buffy, and walked to the other side of Willow's bed, opposite Tara and Xander. Kennedy gently bent over the hospital bed railing and kissed Willow on the forehead. "I don't know what is going on in your busy little head right now, but you have to leave that all behind because I need you. Wake up, honey! You have to stop this!" Buffy pulled Kennedy into her arms and hugged the young slayer.

Before the group left, Buffy turned to Willow's motionless body and said. "It's funny how everyone expects the slayer, well the slayers, to save the world but Willow, we both know that if I had to face all this evil alone, I wouldn't have lasted this long. You are the glue that holds us together, you need to come back to us, and soon."

-- --

The group got back to the main house around 3am, knowing that the young slayers were likely still awake, waiting for news on Willow. As soon as the foursome were out of the jeep, the large group of teenage girls surrounded them.

Tara noticed that a few of them were looking at her; they appeared shocked to see her. Tara shyly looked down at her hands, she knew that they probably knew the story about how she had died, and she could understand their shock in seeing her. But she knew that she didn't want to start answering questions, especially since she didn't have the answers to them, herself.

Buffy noticed more and more of the girls staring at Tara but she knew that right now wasn't a time for the girls to get all worked up over Tara's sudden and unexpected appearance. The girls meant well but the whole of them as a group could drive the sanest person up the wall. "Girls, its late. Lets all go to the living room and I'll fill you all in on Willow's condition. And on what happened."

The rush of girls towards the house, reminded Tara of a stampede of wild animals. From the corner of her eye, Tara noticed Kennedy walking away from them and the house. In the darkness, Tara was barely able to make out a small path between the trees; she had no idea where the trail led. But she knew that she would have to wait until morning to find out what was at the end of the path. Just as Tara was about to follow the others into the house, Xander pulled her aside. "Tara, we understand if you don't feel like being around all of those girls. They can terrify the best of us. If you want to spend some time alone, maybe get some sleep; you can take my room if you want. It isn't anything special but it's home."

"Xander, are you sure? I don't want to cause any trouble or anything…. I mean this isn't my home."

"Tara, this is your home. You know that you're part of this family, even if you died. Look at it this way, Buffy died twice and we still let her in the house."

Tara laughed softly.

Tara knew that she needed time to think about everything that had happened, everything that she had been told. "Thank you, Xander. I think that I should try and get cleaned up a bit."

Xander wrapped his arm around her as he led her towards the apartment he built for himself above the garage.

-- --

Kennedy followed the dark trail back to the cabin she shared with Willow. Once inside the cabin, she collapsed into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. It was the first time since Willow was hurt that Kennedy allowed the emotions of the day to pass through her.

-- --

Tara sat on Xander's bed, looking at the main house through the window. Xander had quick left after showing her around the loft-like apartment. Tara was thankful for the silence; she knew that she had to figure out what to do when she saw her Willow again. Tara wondered if their love was still strong enough, for her to still send a message, psychically, to Willow.

But she knew that Willow had moved on, with Kennedy. The thought of Willow sleeping in another woman's arms, broke her heart. "But you were dead. Gone. Did I really want her to grieve for the rest of her life?" Tara asked herself, out loud. "No, never." The idea of Willow never smiling or laughing again ripped Tara's heart apart. "I know that Willow loves me. If she didn't still love me, she wouldn't have taken the demon's offer." Tara's anger began to grow. "Willow, I thought that you learned your lesson about using dark magic. That's what almost ended our relationship."

"Her powers are why we are still all around."

Tara turned around towards the source of the voice. "Hi Spike. I didn't think that I'd see you this soon."

Well I heard that the blond witch was back from beyond and I just had to check it out for myself." Spike replied, leaning against the doorframe.

"Now you see me."

"So I do. You know that Red's strong, she'll beat this." Spike tried to sound reassuring.

"I'm counting on it. I just wonder where I belong." Tara walked over to the side of the bed, sitting down on the edge.

Spike took her cue and sat down beside her. "You belong with Red."

"But…but she's with …Kennedy." Tara wrapped her arms around herself, trying not to cry at the thought of Willow kissing another woman.

"You mean the pint-size dark slayer. She's nothing. Just a little sex-toy to keep Red occupied." He knew immediately that he said the wrong thing. "Listen Blondie, Red was broken, she needed someone to show her that she was still alive."

"But I'm not supposed to be here, I died."

"You and me both."

Tara didn't understand what Spike meant. "Is it because of the whole vampire thing?"

"Partially. When the end of the world came, I died. Lets just say that I was too bad for heaven and too good for hell. So I was sent back here."

Tara studied his face as he explained what had happened to him. He knew how she felt; he had been through it himself. "I just need to figure out where I stand in all this."

Spike got off the bed and walked back over to the door. Before he left, he turned to Tara and said: "I'll let you figure that out by yourself. That is what I had to do. I realized that I belonged here, with the rest of the world's outcasts. You need to figure out where you want to be."

Tara stared at the door for a long time after Spike left. Tara knew where she wanted to be, but she knew that she couldn't be there till the morning.

-- --

Early the next morning, Buffy woke up to the sun shining through the curtains. She had only managed to cry herself to sleep, an hour before. It took her a long time to make sure all the girls were okay after she gave them the news about Willow. Buffy knew that the girls looked up to Willow, she was always there if someone needed to talk. She was always there when Buffy needed to talk. Buffy wondered if Willow knew somewhere deep in her sleeping mind that Tara was alive.

She turned to look out the window; she could hear the girls training, outside. Buffy knew that it was a good thing that the girls were trying to keep busy and stay out of the way. But as she watched them, she could tell that their hearts weren't into it. They were slow and making simple mistakes that would easily get them killed in battle.

Buffy wondered how Tara was doing. When they returned from the hospital, Tara had gone to be alone in Xander's apartment. She knew that Tara needed time and space, away from all the usual craziness that happened in the slayer school. Buffy decided that she would go check on Tara, but before she could do that, she needed some caffeine to wake her up.

As Buffy walked into the kitchen, she noticed Tara standing by the back door, watching the young girls. "They're usually a lot better than this." Buffy stated, announcing her presence in the room.

Tara looked at Buffy; it was evident that Buffy hadn't gotten much sleep either. "You're doing a good job with them. Have you called the hospital yet? To find out what time we can see Willow."

"I called this morning, the nurse told me that Willow will be ready for visitors around 10 o'clock. She is doing okay, she's stable but not awake yet." Buffy looked back at the girls training outside. "We all work with them in some way or another. I do most of the training with the girls, and I patrol at night. Xander is our resident Mr. Fix-it and he also makes all of our weapons. Spike does the night training and the night patrol too…." Buffy looked down at her newly poured cup of coffee before continuing. "Willow was… is…in charge of the girls education and also all of the research. She still does most of the magic that we need in battle. I'm trying to convince her to train a few of the girls who are interested in learning about magic, but Willow refuses."

Tara knew that Willow loved to learn and it made her smile at the thought of Willow teaching. But Tara couldn't understand why Willow wouldn't want to teach her art to others. "Did she ever tell you why?"

"Once. She told me that she couldn't handle being responsible to teach someone else how to control their power, when she feels like she can barely control her own."

"Can she control them? Her powers, I mean."

Buffy nodded. "She can, when she believes in herself. And when it doesn't have anything to do with you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, the only time Willow loses control, even just a bit, is when your name is mentioned in battle or something. Demons like to bring those kinds of things up."

Tara looked back outside. "Is that what I saw? Willow with no control?"

"No, I think that she had some control but I'm not sure how much…." Before Buffy could continue, loud music started resonating from the basement.

Tara looked at Buffy, confused.

Buffy knew exactly who was in the basement, just by the music. Kennedy. "Someone's just training in the basement."

"With the music that loud? Is that normal?"

"It's normal when it's Kennedy. She normally isn't up this early in the morning. She probably didn't sleep much last night, either." Buffy explained. She knew that it must hurt Tara, every time someone mentioned Kennedy's name.

Tara was becoming more and more curious about exactly who Kennedy was. She felt as though she needed to find out why Willow loved the young slayer. "She doesn't wake up early to train with the other girls?"

"No, Kennedy is the most trained when it comes to battle. Sometimes we use her to help us train the younger girls. Normally, she does the night patrol with Spike. We don't usually see Kennedy around here until at least lunch time."

"She patrols with Spike?"

"Those two get along pretty well. They both love the kill. Think of Kennedy as a younger, non-killing version of Faith. Now when you get those two together, beware. It's like two little kids at Christmas, they get so into their slaying that they're normally gone for at least a couple of days. But that only lasts until Faith decides to leave again." Buffy knew why Tara was asking about Kennedy, the witch was trying to find out more about her competition.

"Faith doesn't stay here?"

Before Buffy could answer, loud banging started coming from the basement. Buffy ran down the stairs to find the source of the noise. She suddenly stopped after climbing down only a couple of stairs, as the punching bag came flying across the room. "Kennedy! What the hell are you doing? Put that back down!" Buffy could tell that Kennedy had already trashed most of the training room. Buffy ducked as a garbage can came flying towards her. She heard Tara coming up behind her, Buffy now knew who Kennedy's target was.

Kennedy glared at Tara. She blamed her for messing everything up in her life. "Get out!" Kennedy yelled.

Buffy turned to Tara and said: "I think that you should leave. Things can get ugly."

Tara nodded and walked out of the basement. As she walked back into the kitchen, she remembered what Buffy had said about Willow being the one responsible for research, which would mean that there was a library somewhere. Tara knew that she needed to find a spell book; she needed a spell that would allow her to communicate with Willow.

As she walked outside, in search of the library, she noticed a few of the young girls standing group. Tara knew that she would have to eventually talk to some of them but she wasn't sure how much they actually knew about her. But they would know where the library was.

Tara walked up to the girls and asked quietly. "Can you tell me where I can find the library?"

One of the youngest girls, a short brunette with piercing blue eyes, answered her. "You're Tara right?"

Tara nodded.

"So you're a witch too? Just like Willow? Are you as powerful as she is? Because I've seen her in battle and I wouldn't want to get her mad. I think that's why everyone always has their homework done on time." The young girl stated.

Tara smiled both at the thought of Willow getting upset about late homework and at the young girl who continued to talk. The young slayer was cute but Tara knew that she did need to find the library before they left for the hospital. "I'm nowhere near as powerful as Willow. Umm…Where is the library?"

"Oh yeah, if you just want to follow that trail, you'll find a small cabin. The library is in the attic."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Chapter.10

Tara began to follow the trail, the same trail she had seen Kennedy follow the night before. "I wonder why she came down here? Why would she go to the library? She doesn't seem the library type of person." Tara stopped when she had to cross a small bridge. The bridge reminded her of the bridge where she had sung to Willow. Tara continued over the small bridge, she smiled when she stopped at the small cabin on the other side. "Now this feels like a home. I wonder if anyone lives here?"

She lightly knocked on the front door in case someone did in fact live in this small cabin. When no one answered, Tara let herself in. As soon as she was in the cabin, Tara was able to feel Willow's essence surround her. "This must be where Willow lives." A smile crept up on her face when she spotted a picture of Willow, Buffy and Xander. Tara examined the pictures carefully as she walked up to them. She felt like maybe she'd feel closer to the new Willow if she knew who was important in Willow's new life.

There were pictures of some of the young slayers and more pictures of the Scoobies. Tara paused when she noticed two pictures in particular. One picture was of Willow and her, it was taken one summer day during a picnic that the Scoobies had had.. The other was one of Willow and Kennedy. She studied both pictures, immediately she spotted the differences in Willow. In the picture with her and Willow, Willow was smiling and Tara see the happiness in Willow's eyes. But in the picture of Willow and Kennedy, Willow was smiling but this time, her eyes were sad. Tara began to tear up at the thought of Willow so unhappy. "I can't do this right now, Willow needs me to be strong. I have to find the library."

Tara began to look around the cabin, looking for the stairs. Tara felt comfortable in the cabin, her Willow's cabin. As she continued to walk down a small hallway, Tara noticed a set of stairs. "I guess this is how to get into the attic."

Once in the attic, Tara's smile grew. "Now this is Willow." She said to herself as she looked around the attic/library. Tara noticed the floor to ceiling bookcases, the large comfortable pillows that littered the floor and the hundreds of candle that surrounded the room. Tara knew that she had to start going through the books; she needed to find a book that would allow her to cross into Willow's sleeping mind.

Buffy knew that she had to stop Kennedy from destroying the whole training room. Even after Tara left, Kennedy continued on her rampage. "Ken, stop for a minute. This isn't doing anyone any good."

Kennedy glared at Buffy, who was standing a couple of feet away from her. "It feels good to me."

"I hope that it feels good on your bank account because trust me, you are going to be paying for the damage."

"I don't care."

Buffy started cleaning the mess that Kennedy created. "Willow would care. How do you think she'd feel if she knew that you were destroying everything in sight?"

Kennedy couldn't believe that Buffy actually had the nerve to mention Willow's name. "How dare you? What I do is my business. Willow isn't my mother. She's my girlfriend. Well, she was."

"Was? When did you two breakup? Because the last thing that I remember, you and Willow were still sharing a bed."

"In case you haven't noticed, Tara's back. That means I'm out of the picture." Kennedy said as she finally started to calm down and sat on the bottom step.

Buffy sat down beside her. "Willow loves you, how about you let her make the decision on who she wants to be with."

"It's useless. I know Willow and I know how much she loved, still loves, Tara. I can never compare with her. I mean have you seen her? She's tall, blond and beautiful. No wonder Will fell in love with her. I don't stand a chance."

"You really don't have a chance, if you think that you don't. You're jinxing yourself. Willow's hurt right now, how about we concentrate on her. She's important to all of us, we all love her."

Kennedy turned and looked at Buffy. "Yeah, you're right for once. That's a change. I just can't seem to figure out how to be in the same room with that woman and keep my cool. I hate the idea of her touching my girlfriend."

"I understand, but you need to least try. I mean you don't want to be banned from the hospital, for having a freak out on Tara. Now that would really piss Willow off."

"Damn, you're right again. You're getting good at this." Kennedy smiled at Buffy. "And we both know not to piss that witch off."

Buffy laughed, she then thought to herself. 'This must be the Kennedy that Willow sees. She's not half bad. But Willow isn't the only witch that Kennedy doesn't want to piss off. Kennedy had no idea how powerful Tara really is.' Buffy got off the step and turned to walk back up but before she left, she turned to Kennedy and said: "You'd better hurry if you want to catch a ride with us to the hospital. Xander wants to leave in about 20 minutes."

"Yeah, I just have to run up to the cabin and grab a few things for Willow. Things that she is going to need when she wakes up."

Buffy nodded as she left the room. She needed to get the girls ready for the day. It would also be the first day that Dawn would be in charge of the young slayers, while they were at the hospital.

Tara still hadn't found a spell to help her communicate with Willow, while she was still unconscious. As Tara took another look around the room, she was able to picture Willow, researching for hours, sitting in the corner. "Oh baby, wake up soon."

"What the hell are you doing in my house?!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Chapter. 11

"What the hell are you doing in my house?!"

Tara spun around at the sound of Kennedy's voice. "Umm… I didn't know. I was…told that…this was…was the library."

"It's also my house. Get out before I just lose it." Kennedy tried to remain calm.

"I'm sorry…I'll leave." Tara hated it when she stuttered but being around Kennedy, made her nervous.

Just as Tara was about to leave the room, Kennedy mumbled. "You should be sorry."

"Excuse me? I'm sorry for walking into your house without your permission, but I am not sorry for being alive. Maybe life has changed since I died, but I still know what a brat acts like. I've never even met you before yesterday and you've acted hateful towards me ever since."

Kennedy walked closer to Tara "You're wrong. I've hated you since I've met Willow. The amount of hurt and guilt that she felt, was crap. She doesn't deserve to feel like that."

"I didn't ask to be brought back. Willow made that decision, that's what she wanted."

Kennedy just wanted to throw one good punch. How dare she try telling her what Willow wanted. "Like I said before get out of my house, before I take you out myself."

Tara didn't know how much Kennedy was really capable of. But she was a slayer and Tara knew that violence wouldn't help anything. "I'm leaving. Cool down before you get to the jeep because I will be there too. And we're not having this discussion again." Tara left before Kennedy could reply.

Buffy was waiting by the jeep with Xander when she spotted Tara coming up the path from Willow and Kennedy's cabin. She turned to Xander and said: "Oh, this can't be good."

Xander had no idea what Buffy was talking about. "Why's that bad. Tara was looking around a bit."

"Yeah but Kennedy went up to the cabin to grab a few things. I can pretty much guarantee that something happened back there."

"Should I go check on Tara?" Xander asked in a concerned voice.

"No, Tara's coming over here. I think that we should just let those two have it out now, hopefully before Willow wakes up." Buffy decided to wait until she was alone with Tara to ask her what had happened at the cabin. She climbed into the passenger seat, waiting for Xander to get the hint and jump into the driver's seat.

As Tara climbed into the back seat, Xander screamed out. "Kennedy! Get your ass over here! We're leaving with or without you!"

Just then Kennedy came running up the trail, jumping into the jeep.

As soon as the group walked into Willow's room, Buffy dropped to her knees. Xander knelt down and wrapped his arms around her. "Buff, she is going to be okay. This is Willow that we're talking about, she wouldn't just leave us. Come on, you don't want her to wake up and see you crying."

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm just going to go into the hall for a minute." Buffy stated as she immediately walked out of Willow's hospital room.

"I'm just going to check on her. I'll be right back." Xander said as he followed Buffy out of the room He knew that something was really wrong because Buffy never broke down.

Back in the hospital room, Kennedy and Tara had each taken a side of Willow's bed. Neither of them spoke, they just stared at Willow, expecting her to wake up.

Kennedy decided that she wouldn't let Tara's presence stop her from talking to Willow. She broke the silence. "Will, wake up. It's morning now, I know how much you love to wake up early and watch the sunrise. This morning was the first time since we've lived at the cabin that I watched it alone. Don't make me do that again…"

Before Kennedy could continue, Tara got up and walked out of the room. She decided that she was going to give Kennedy some time to be with Willow alone. "Maybe their love is strong enough to wake Willow up."

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Xander asked her as he sat down beside her at the end of the hall.

"How can you ask me that? My best friend is laying unconscious in a hospital bed. I can't lose her, not now, not ever. She might not come back and if she does, she has really one of the hardest decisions in her life to make. We've watched Willow go through hell for the last 2 years, but she was still standing. Okay, she isn't the same Willow as in high school but we're not the same people that we were in high school either." Buffy paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Xander, she just looks so…small and weak in that bed."

Xander wrapped his arms around her again trying to reassure her. "I didn't mean it like that, Buff. I just meant that normally you're the strong one. Willow's my best friend, I love her more than anyone could ever know. I can't remember my life without Willow being in it and it hurts too bad to think of life without her. Willow's smart, she had to know what this demon could do to her. I mean she researched him for days. Plus she knew that if her plan did work, she was going to have to make the decision between Tara and Kennedy anyways."

It was at this moment that Tara walked up to the two friends, comforting each other. She knelt down in front of where Buffy was sitting. She looked up at Buffy and said: "Willow's going to be fine, I can feel it. I don't see a reason in bringing me back from the dead, just so that she can die before I have a chance to tell her that I love her. I have to believe that I will have another chance to look into her eyes and I need you to believe this with me."

Buffy nodded in agreement before asking: "Why aren't you with her now?"

Tara got up and sat on the other side of Buffy. "I thought that I would give Kennedy some time alone with Willow. I can tell she's hurting right now; I know how she's feeling. As much as I love Willow, I want her to be happy. And if Kennedy makes her happy, that I don't want to ruin that for her. I don't want to be the reason they break up. I know that they might break up because I'm alive again, but I don't want their relationship to end just because I'm alive. I only want her to be with me, if that's what she really wants."

Buffy held onto Tara's hand and answered. "Tara, you're an amazing woman. I cannot begin to understand what you're going through. I mean, I know that I've died twice but neither time, did the person that I love, move on. I admire your strength, your love. Tell me what happened in the cabin? I know that something must have happened because both you and Kennedy were in there at the same time."

"I went looking for the library. One of the young girls told me that it was in the attic of a small cabin. She didn't tell me that anyone lived there. I knocked when I got to the cabin, but there was no answer. I let myself in and immediately felt Willow's essence all around me. That's when I realized that's it must be her cabin. But I didn't piece two-and-two together. Kennedy found me in the library. She was upset, and words were exchanged but I think that she's starting to figure out that the arguing isn't going to help anyone at this point."

"Kennedy talked? You mean with words and not violence?" Xander asked surprised.

"Oh, it probably would have led to violence, but I ended it before it could reach that point. When Willow wakes up, a lot of emotions are going to start going into overdrive. There is no use allowing it to happen right now because nothing is going to be solved until Willow does wake up."

The three friends sat there, waiting for their friend to wake up and join them.

Kennedy sat with Willow for a couple of hours, just talking to her. "Okay Hun, I'm just going to go let the others have some time with you. Don't worry that gorgeous head of yours; I'll just be in the hall. No one will keep me away from you, I promise." She kissed Willow on the forehead, and walked into the hall. When her eyes met with Xander's, she nodded letting him know that they could go in. Kennedy decided that she would grab herself a seat at the opposite end of the hall.

Buffy let go of Tara's hand as she saw Kennedy leave Willow's room. Buffy turned to Tara and said: "I think you should go in next."

"Are you sure?"

Buffy nodded.

Tara stood up and walked over to the hospital room. Before she walked in, Tara stopped to take a deep breath. "Okay, you have to be strong for yourself and Willow." She kept repeating this to herself as she walked into the room. Tara walked quickly over to Willow's side, kissing her love's forehead. She just sat there for a while, studying Willow's face. She knew that she didn't want to ever live without seeing her perfect angel's face, again. "My Willow, we are waiting for you to wake up. I know you like to sleep but it's a new day. A new day that we can spend together. This could be a new start for us; you just need to fight this. You have to be strong like an Amazon." Tara sat back in the chair, holding Willow's hand in her own. "I'll be waiting here for you."

Visiting hours were almost over when Willow's doctor walked into the room. Xander and Tara were sitting on either side of Willow, each one holding a hand, while Buffy and Kennedy sat at the foot of the bed. All four had been sitting in silence for a few hours when the doctor appeared. "I have Ms. Rosenberg's latest test results and they are promising. The bullet didn't hit any major arteries, but it was close. We're just waiting for her to wake up."

Kennedy quickly turned around to face the doctor. "So you're telling us that Willow WILL wake up?"

"I believe so, the only question is when. It could happen now or it could happen a week from now. How about you guys go get some sleep, you've been here all day." The doctor recommended.

"Would it be possible for one of us to stay the night with her, we don't want her to wake up alone." Tara asked the doctor, quietly.

"It's okay with me. But only one of you can stay the night with her. I have to go finish my rounds now, but I'll be back to answer any questions, tomorrow morning." With that the doctor left the room, leaving the foursome to figure out who would spend the first night with Willow. It seemed like the decision was immediately. Tara would. It was easier to decide when Kennedy stated that she needed to get slaying done, in order to get rid of some built up aggression. Buffy agreed and knew that she couldn't stay, herself, because she had to do the night patrol. Xander didn't argue with the girls' decision, he knew that Willow would rather wake up to Tara's face than his own. Tara smiled softly as she watched the others leave the room for the night.

Before Kennedy left, she crawled onto the side of the bed and whispered in Willow's ear: "Babe, if you wake up tonight, know that I am thinking about you." She turned and left the room; Kennedy knew that if she looked at Willow again, she wouldn't be able to leave at all. But Willow needed Kennedy to be calm, and that wasn't going to happen if Kennedy didn't burn off some energy. And what better way to get rid of the excess energy and anger than to slay.

3 days later

Kennedy walked into the movie room, she knew that it was likely to be empty but that was what she had wanted. She needed time away from everyone, time to think about the last 4 days. Willow still hadn't woken up but Kennedy refused to give up hope on her. Kennedy had had a difficult time, every time she had to leave the hospital because that meant that Tara was alone with Willow. But there was one thing that Kennedy respected about the tall blond witch, she had never left Willow's side.

When Andrew had heard about Willow, he sent Kennedy, two Dvds. She recognized one of them as being the footage from their time in Sunnydale. She also knew that he had caught Willow and her on film, together, multiple times, before they became serious. Kennedy looked down at the second DVD; she had no clue that a second one had even existed. She was anxious to see what was on it. She hoped that there was more footage of her and Willow. Kennedy felt like the memories of them together were fading from her mind. She needed to see Willow's love for her on tape, as proof to herself that Willow did love her and that it wasn't just Kennedy's wishful thinking.

Tara had spent the last couple of nights, just walking around the large main house. She knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep until Willow woke up. Tara thought back to the first night that she spent with Willow, alone in the hospital. The whole time, Tara read to Willow, hoping that the sound of her voice would awaken her love. And when the others had arrived the next morning, to relieve Tara, she couldn't force herself to leave. She felt like the moment that she would leave, Willow would wake up. But that hadn't happened, it had been 4 days and Willow still didn't show any sign of improvement.

As she was about to walk into what she thought was an empty room, when she spotted someone watching the TV. Kennedy.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Chapter. 12

Tara knew that sooner or later, her and Kennedy would have to talk. Tara had so many questions that she felt only Kennedy could answer. They spent the last few days ignoring each other but Tara knew that that time was over. 'I guess this is as good of a time as any.' She thought to herself.

That is when the television caught her eye. She saw Buffy, Xander, Anya, Willow and Kennedy on the screen. They were surrounded by some of the young slayers, some Tara recognized from around the slayer school, but there were other young faces that Tara didn't recognize. Tears began to flood Tara's eyes, as she thought about the faces of those who hadn't survived the final Sunnydale battle.

Kennedy's slayer abilities told her that someone else was in the room. She paused the DVD player, turning to see who had interrupted her time alone with Willow. That was when she noticed Tara standing in the doorway.

Even in the darkened room, Tara could see tears streaming down Kennedy's face.

"Do you mind? I was in the middle of something." Kennedy stated.

Tara walked further into the room and sat on the couch across from Kennedy. "Buffy's talking about the First Evil, right?" Tara asked motioning towards the television.

"Yeah, she is."

"Do you mind if I watch it with you? I mean, I really want to know what happened in Sunnydale before it became a large empty pit." Tara asked patiently.

"I guess it can't hurt. I'm just warning you that I don't really remember what's on this DVD. And I have no clue what's on the second one." Kennedy replied.

Tara gave her a confused look.

"It's just that no one really knew or cared that Andrew was filming us. We had more important things to worry about at the time."

"Andrew?"

"Yeah, he was basically a hostage that we couldn't get rid of. And actually we still can't get rid of him."

"It's just that the name sounds familiar."

Kennedy suddenly remembered one of the reasons that Andrew was taken hostage. "You might remember his name because he was a member of that geek squad that kept trying to kill Buffy. You know, the one with Warren as the leader."

"Warren." Tara thought to herself. The man that shot her. The man that Willow killed.

Kennedy didn't want to like Tara but she couldn't help admire the woman's quiet strength. Since she didn't want to have some emotional discussion with Tara; she decided to change the topic before things reached that point. "So like I said before, if you want to sit here and watch it, it doesn't bother me. But consider yourself warned."

Without waiting for Tara's response, Kennedy turned the video back on.

As Tara watched the video, she paid attention to every word being said, but she couldn't take her eyes off Willow. Willow was sitting on a chair with Kennedy sitting beside her, on the arm of the chair. They were held hands while they listened to Buffy talk about the First Evil.

Tara caught a glimpse of Kennedy as she watched the television. The way that Kennedy watched Willow on the screen, told Tara that Kennedy truly did love Willow. Still loves her, Tara reminded herself. As much as Tara didn't understand about Kennedy, she didn't want to see the young slayer hurt. But Tara knew that in the end, someone was going to end up getting hurt.

Kennedy tried to keep her eyes on the screen, but she couldn't stop herself from sneaking a quick glimpse of Tara. 'So this is the woman who's death broke Willow. Why did Willow love her so much? I mean I know that she is a witch too, but other than that, what's so special about her? Sure, she seems nice but she was too quiet. I'd never expect Miss. Babble to find something in common with someone who doesn't really talk at all.'

Kennedy turned her attention back to the television when she realized that Andrew had recorded her and Willow kissing on the couch. They thought that they had been alone. If they had known that Andrew was there, during their private moment, Kennedy knew that she probably would have made him eat the camera. But at this moment, Kennedy appreciated the fact that there was video proof that Willow did in fact love her.

After the first DVD ended, Kennedy walked up to the television and inserting the second DVD into the machine. As she turned to sit back down, she looked over to Tara and said: "This one is a mystery. No clue what's on it."

Tara's nod was her only reply.

As the second DVD began, Kennedy immediately remembered the day that it was filmed. Soon after the collapse of Sunnydale, when the Scoobies and the new slayers were getting settled into their new home, they decided to have a party. A party to celebrate surviving the fall of Sunnydale and to celebrate the lives that were lost in the fight.

Kennedy thought back to the memory of that day.

MemoryKennedy was eating her fourth hamburger when she noticed that Willow was no longer beside her. 'Where did she go?' Kennedy wondered to herself. She began to walk around, looking for her lover. It didn't take long before she found Willow standing by the lake, looking deep in thought. As Kennedy began to move towards Willow, she noticed that Willow was trying not to cry. Kennedy knew that she had to do something to take Willow's mind away from whatever was upsetting her. It wasn't hard for Kennedy to figure out what was upsetting her girlfriend. Tara. Kennedy made a promise to herself that she would always do whatever it took to put a smile back on Willow's face. Suddenly she had an idea. She began running towards Willow, yelling "Will! Lets go for a swim!"

_Willow turned towards Kennedy for an instant before she started to run away in the opposite direction. "Kennedy! I'm not going swimming! I'm fully dressed! Don't throw me in!" _

_Kennedy started laughing. "That's a good idea, thanks Babe!"_

"_Buffy! Xander! Anyone! Help me, she's going to throw me in!" Willow laughed as she continued to run away from Kennedy._

_Suddenly Kennedy noticed everyone running behind her, towards the water. But they were to late to help Willow._

_As Kennedy reached Willow, she picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. Kennedy then started to run into the water. _

_Willow continued to struggle, even as Kennedy threw her into the water. _

_Kennedy stood over Willow as the witch sat in the water. "What?" Kennedy asked, not trusting the grin that suddenly appeared on Willow's face._

_Without a word, Willow grabbed Kennedy's arm pulling her down into the water as well. Kennedy immediately jumped back onto her feet. She then noticed that they were no longer the only ones in the water. Everyone was now jumping into the lake._

_As Willow stood back up, she wrapped her arms around Kennedy, pressing her chest against Kennedy's back. She proceeded by whispering into Kennedy's ear. "If you go get me a towel, I'll let you warm me up." _

_Within a minute, Kennedy grabbed a towel that a younger slayer had been using and ran back into the water, meeting Willow halfway. _

_As they arrived back onto solid ground, Willow sat down on a blanket with Kennedy sitting between her legs. She wrapped the towel around the both of them. Willow continued to whisper into Kennedy's ear. "You shouldn't have taken this towel from Vi."_

_Kennedy turned around and replied. "You told me to get you a towel. I did. Mission complete. Now what about my prize?"_

_Willow smiled and leaning forward to kiss Kennedy. She paused a couple of minutes later and said. "That's just a preview of what's going to happen in a few minutes."_

"_A few minutes?"_

_Willow jumped up and started running towards their cabin. It didn't take long before Kennedy got the message, and started running towards the cabin, herself._

End of Memory

Kennedy smiled as she remembered that day, which had continued well into the next day for the couple. No one saw them leave the cabin until suppertime, the following day.

She looked back at the TV and watched as Andrew moved from behind the tree where Willow and Kennedy were sitting and sat on the next blanket where Buffy sat with Dawn and Xander.

Dawn watched as Kennedy followed Willow in the cabin. "Well, we all know what they're going to go do."

Buffy looked at Xander quickly and answered her sister's statement. "Yeah, they're going to go do some research…."

"Yeah in the bedroom." Dawn replied laughing.

Xander almost choked on the hotdog that he was eating.

Buffy turned to Andrew and ordered. "Turn that off or I'll throw that thing in the lake."

The TV then went blank.

Tara didn't know what to make out of what she had just seen. She had had a few days to think about the fact that Willow was now with Kennedy, but seeing it for herself, made it hurt more than she could ever have imagined. 'Why would she want me here if she has this? Do I even fit into her new life? She's a different person now, does that mean that she won't love me the same way as she did, before? Will I even love her the same way?' Tara couldn't stop the questions that were now popping up in her head. But she knew that there was one person who would be able to answer some of her questions, at least until Willow can answer the rest for herself. Kennedy. Tara didn't know what to how to start talking to her love's lover especially since Kennedy didn't seem like a very welcoming person, but Tara knew that she had to at least try.

"Kennedy… can I…ask…you a ques…question?" Tara stuttered.

Kennedy was unsure if she should even be talking to Tara. Kennedy didn't want to find a reason to not hate her. She knew that there must be something about Tara that made the people around her, fall in love with her. In the end, it was Kennedy's curiosity that won. "Yeah, I guess."

"Well it's about Willow. The Willow that we just watched was your Willow, right?"

"What do you mean by 'Your Willow'?"

"No, nothing bad. I just meant that … Does Willow act the same way now as she did back when this video was shot?"

Kennedy couldn't figure out what Tara meant. Why would Tara ask about the way Willow acted? She lived with Willow; she should know the answer to that question. Then it hit Kennedy, she figured out why Tara was asking. "Well, yeah. That's Willow. Are you telling me that she isn't the same person as she was when you were alive, the first time?"

Tara could feel the tears softly falling down her cheeks. Her Willow was damaged, possibly beyond repair. Tara tried to form an answer, but found it impossible. She only shook her head in response.

"How is she different? I mean, she's still Willow, isn't she?" Kennedy began to panic, there was something wrong with the woman that she loved and she had had no idea.

Tara could sense the anxiety in Kennedy's voice. "The Willow that I just watched seems sad, dark, and unsure of herself. Sure I saw a lot of the old Willow there, but the new one just seems stronger. The Willow that I remember was strong, happy, she babbled without noticing and sure we had our rough patches, but I felt like she was making progress in not using her magic."

"She still babbles, I guess that hasn't changed. Willow has changed even since I've known her. I mean when I first met her, she was scared to even go near anything magic related because she knew that there was a chance that she could lose control and that the darkness inside of her would hurt someone. But since she changed the future of all slayers, she's getting better at the whole control thing."

"Better?"

"Well I doubt that she'll ever really be able to control all her powers. I mean she's the most powerful Wicca on this side of the planet, if not the whole world. She changed magics that were as old as the history of slayers themselves. It would be hard for anyone to control all of that."

Tara had always known that Willow was powerful but even before she died, it scared her to think about how powerful her girlfriend really was. And now Willow had even more power. Dark power. "But it's dangerous power. Dark power, it's not something to be taken lightly."

"I know that I don't get the whole magic thing. But I know that magic can get pretty messed up sometimes. Like the first time that I kissed Willow, she turned into the guy that killed you. Oh yeah, she then pulled a gun on me. But never mind that, it's just that she wasn't in control of her power but it wasn't the dark power controlling her. It was just power brought on by her emotions. She's powerful, sure. But it isn't good power or bad power, its just power." Just as Kennedy was about to continue, her cell phone began to ring. "Yeah… Of course… Be there soon. Yeah I'll tell Buffy." Kennedy turned towards Tara and said. "Well, I got to go. There some badness in town and Xander wants me to go stay with Willow while he helps Buffy. So, yeah… See ya."

With that Kennedy was out the door, leaving Tara alone in the dark room, alone with her thoughts.

Talking to Kennedy made Tara realize that Kennedy wasn't a bad person; she was just someone who's afraid of losing the person that they loved. But what Kennedy had said about power, stuck in Tara's mind.

Tara knew that Willow was not in any way a bad person. Willow was a best friend, confidante and the most amazing girlfriend. It was the power, that kept giving Tara doubts on whether she could just sit by and wait to see if Willow would succumb to the darkness again. But what Kennedy had said about Willow's power being linked to her emotions, made sense to Tara. Tara realized that everything that she had heard about Willow's greater moments, whether good or evil, always seemed to be tied to Willow either being extremely upset, like when she died, or great strength and will, like when she gave all potential slayers their powers.

Kennedy arrived at Willow's hospital room in record time. She knew that Buffy needed Xander's help fighting the latest evil and Kennedy knew that after her time talking to Tara, she needed Willow.

"I'm here. Buffy told me to tell you that she'll meet you at the entrance of Parkland Cemetery."

"That's good. Thanks for coming. I feel bad leaving her when she's like this…"

Kennedy placed a hand on Xander's shoulder and said: "It's okay. Will would totally understand why you have to leave. Don't worry, I won't leave her side."

Xander stood up from the chair, beside Willow's bed. He walked over to the doorway, before leaving he turned to Kennedy and said: "I'll be back in morning to check on you. If she…."

"Yeah, I know."

Xander nodded in understanding, and left the room.

Kennedy climbed onto the bed, beside Willow and placed her head on Willow's shoulder, taking the witch's hand into her own. She sat there quietly, just thinking about what she was going to do when Willow finally woke up.

Suddenly Kennedy felt Willow's hand move, she pulled away to get a better look at Willow's face.

"Hey, I was comfortable like that…" Willow whispered quietly.

"Will! You're awake." Kennedy placed a gentle kiss on Willow's lips. "I've missed you."

Willow's mind was still foggy but she knew that she was in a hospital and something had gone wrong with the demon. "How long was I out?"

"Shhh, Baby. You've been sleeping for the last four days or so. But you're awake now." Kennedy moved a strand of hair from Willow's eyes. "I've missed those beautiful eyes looking at me."

"Did everyone make it out of the cave, alright? I remember seeing them there." Willow knew that if anyone was hurt, she was to blame. She also knew that someone else's death on her conscience would destroy her.

"Baby, you need to rest. You've been through a lot; please we can talk about this later. But to answer your question, yes, everyone is okay. They're out fighting some evil right now. They said that they'd be back in the morning to see you but I'll call to tell that them you're awake."

"No, they're busy right now. I'll just see them in the morning. It will be a surprise for them."

"Okay, now it's time to rest. We'll deal with everything later." Kennedy ordered. Now that Willow was awake, she knew that there was a likely chance that her time with Willow was running out. But she also knew that Willow needed to rest.

"Just one more thing, then I promise to get some rest." Willow took a deep breath, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer to her own question but she knew that she needed to know the answer. "How about Tara?" she asked in a whisper.

Kennedy climbed off the bed and sat on the chair beside the bed. Kennedy took a deep breath and looked into Willow's sad eyes. "She's not here."

Willow knew that her plan was likely to backfire, but she knew that she had at least tried. And failed. She failed to bring her soul mate back to her. Willow couldn't look at Kennedy; she turned her head to look the opposite way. She refused to allow Kennedy to see her cry about Tara ever again. Willow decided then and there that she had hurt Kennedy enough, and that she would show the young slayer how much she truly meant to her. But Willow knew that she had to say a final goodbye to Tara, one last time. 'Tara, I'm so sorry for failing you. Remember that I'll always love you. I hope that you can forgive me for trying to bring you back here from heaven. Bye, Tara.' She knew that now she had to rest, especially since she could no longer keep her eyes open. Willow fell asleep as her tears dried on her cheeks.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Chapter. 13

Tara was walking back towards Xander's small apartment when she suddenly heard Willow's voice in her head. "Tara, I'm so sorry for failing you. Remember that I'll always love you. I hope that you can forgive me for trying to bring you back here from heaven. Bye, Tara." Tara was shocked; she hadn't expected to suddenly hear Willow's voice in her head. Tara knew that it could only mean one thing, Willow was awake. She thought back to what Willow said. Willow was saying goodbye.

Tara knew that she had to get a message back to Willow. "Willow honey, I am here waiting for you. You did it, baby, you brought me back." Tara hoped that Willow received the message, but after a few more minutes of silence, she began to have her doubts. Willow had probably closed her mind, not expecting Tara to answer her.

Tara knew she had to find a way to the hospital to be with her love. She needed to let Willow know that she was alive. Tara turned and began running towards Buffy's room.

As she was about to knock on Buffy's bedroom door, she remembered that Buffy, Xander and Spike had all left to fight some new evil and that Kennedy was with Willow, at the hospital. "Wait, Willow's awake and Kennedy's with her. So why does she still think that I'm gone?" She said aloud to herself. Still having a difficult time admitting to herself that she had in fact been dead for almost 2 years.

"Who still thinks you're gone?" Dawn asked as she opened her bedroom door.

"Oh, sorry Dawn. Did I wake you?" Tara asked.

"No, I was doing some research and heard someone in the hall. So who still thinks that you're gone?" Dawn asked a second time.

"Willow. She's awake and doesn't know that I'm alive. I have to get to the hospital but all the vehicles are gone and so are the rest of the Scoobies." Tara replied.

"Willow's awake?! When did she wake up? Is she okay? How do you know and why didn't anyone tell me before now?"

"Relax Dawn. Take a breath. You're starting to babble like Willow." Tara smiled at the memory of Willow babbling. "No one else knows that she's awake, besides Kennedy and I. And the only reason that I know is because Willow sent me a message."

Dawn was confused; she didn't remember hearing the phone ring. "A message?"

"Yeah, do you remember when Willow would talk to us telepathically? Well, it was that type of message."

"What did she say?"

Tara felt the tears start to fall at the thought of Willow still believing that she was dead. She knew that she had technically died almost 2 years before but Willow brought her back. She brought her back to her, only to have a demon almost take Willow away. "She said goodbye."

Dawn was confused. "What do you mean by goodbye?"

Tara looked down at her hands, letting her hair fall over her face, trying to keep the tears hidden from Dawn. "It sounded like she was telling me that things were over and that she was moving on, that kind of goodbye."

"But how can she do something like that. I mean, why? I can't believe Willow would bring you back to life just so that she can turn around and dump you." Dawn said, becoming agitated.

Tara looked up at Dawn and pulled her into her arms. "Dawn, she wasn't dumping me. Well at least I don't think that she was. Something tells me that she was saying goodbye because she still thinks that I am…that I am dead. I think that she was saying goodbye in order to move on with her life."

"But Tara, you're alive. You're here."

"Hun, Willow doesn't know that. At least she doesn't know that yet." Tara pulled away from Dawn and looked into the young woman's eyes. "Willow will know soon enough. As soon as the others get back from hunting their demon, I'm going to the hospital to show Willow that I am very much alive." Tara stated. She smiled at the thought of being in her Willow's arms again.

"Can I come too?" Dawn asked eagerly.

"I don't see why not."

"But there is one thing that's still bothering me. You mentioned that Kennedy was with Willow. So why does Willow still think that you are dead, Kennedy knows that you're alive."

Tara's smile disappeared as she thought of the other woman. "I don't think that Kennedy has told Willow that I'm alive."

-- --

Willow started dreaming of the events that lead to her being in the hospital. Saving the "little girl". The "little girl" turning into a demon. The demon promising Tara's life for Kennedy's. The cave. Seeing Tara…" Willow's dream seemed to pause at the last part. The demon did bring Tara back, Willow saw her. She saw the shock and fear in Tara's eyes when she looked at her. The dream then continued and Willow remembered why she didn't have time to check on Tara because she had to still protect Kennedy from the demon. Suddenly there had been a flash as Buffy killed the demon and a sharp pain radiated through her chest. After that everything had gone dark.

"Please…No!" Willow yelled in her sleep as she thought about the demon taking Tara's life back.

Kennedy stood up from the chair and let her fingers comb through her girlfriend's long red hair. "Will, wake up. It's only a nightmare."

Willow slowly opened her eyes and weakly replied: "It wasn't a nightmare. I was remembering. It actually happened, he brought Tara back but then I failed." Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"You didn't fail. How about we talk about this later when the others get here? Right now, I just want you. I've missed you so much. And I'll kick your ass, if you ever scare me like that again."

Willow took Kennedy's hand in her own. She loved this side of Kennedy, the more vulnerable side. The side that Kennedy kept hidden from everyone, everyone except Willow. "Kennedy, I want you to know that I would have never let that demon hurt you. I am so sorry for putting you through all of this. You don't deserve it, and I don't deserve you. But I love you and if you want to, but you don't have to, can we try this again?"

Kennedy sat back against the bed and thought to herself. 'By morning, there's a good chance that I'll lose Willow.' She decided that she wanted to cherish what she believed would be her last moments with Willow. "Willow, stop babbling. I love you and I was never mad at you. I understand what you were trying to do. I mean if... if you ever died, I'd probably do the same thing and try to bring you back. But I need you to promise me that no matter what's in our future, you'll always remember that I love you." Kennedy finished by gently kissing Willow.

Between passionate kisses Kennedy climbed more and more onto the bed. She suddenly pulled away knowing that it was wrong even though it felt so good. But she knew that if Willow had all the facts, there would be a good chance that they wouldn't be kissing.

Willow looked into Kennedy's eyes confused, she couldn't understand why Kennedy had pulled away from her. Kennedy had just told her that she wasn't mad but Willow knew that something had to be really wrong for Kennedy to stop kissing her.

Kennedy could tell that Willow would begin to suspect that something was right with the situation unless she figured out a way of distracting the red-headed witch. "Will, you need to rest. No more getting me all worked up, it isn't fair. Okay?" She said with a smile, trying to mask her fears and worries.

Willow eyed Kennedy suspiciously. "Are you sure that there's nothing else wrong? I mean if you're upset with me for something, you would tell me right?"

Kennedy only nodded in response. She gently inched herself closer to Willow, on the bed. She took the redhead into her arms, allowing Willow to rest her head on Kennedy's chest. Kennedy then whispered: "I know that I should go tell a nurse or a doctor that you're awake, but I am so happy just being here, holding you. I don't want to move and risk getting kicked off of this bed."

"I know the feeling. I don't want this moment to end either. How about we just wait till a nurse or doctor walks in. That way I can just lay here in your arms until then."

Kennedy kissed the top of Willow's head. "See I knew that there was a reason that you're the smart one. But there is only one thing wrong with your plan. You need to get some more sleep. The more sleep that you get here, the faster the doctors will let you come home. Trust me, a bunch of teenage girls running around because they don't have homework is really starting to piss me off."

"They haven't been doing their homework? Well...well…I dunno. I'll deal with all that, later. But about the whole me sleeping thing, I think that I've slept enough in the last few days. I have an idea, how about you just hold me. I promise to rest, I even promise that I won't talk."

Kennedy started to laugh.

"What's funny?" Willow asked. She couldn't believe that Kennedy was laughing at her.

Kennedy looked down at Willow's face. "I'm sorry Hun, but I'm laughing because you actually think that I believe you when you say that you won't talk. I know you and I know that you love to talk, you even talk in your sleep." She smiled as Willow pouted, pretending to be upset. "Don't be mad. I love to hear your voice. These past few days have driven me crazy because the whole time, I just wanted to hear you say something, anything even if it was you getting mad at me for something stupid like sleeping in too late."

Willow rested her head back down on Kennedy's chest and replied: "Well I think that it's rest time. But I'm not going to fall asleep."

A couple of minutes later, Kennedy laughed inside as she combed her fingers through Willow's hair. Willow had fallen sleep.

-- --

"Buffy, she's in a coma." Xander tried to explain to Buffy as they drove back to the house, after eliminating their latest demon.

Buffy knew what needed to be done. But she also knew that her decision wouldn't be a popular one. "Xander, our now-dead demon just told us that the same demon that brought Tara back, is coming back for vengeance on the full moon and that's 4 days from now. And thanks to a little torture, we also know that there's only one thing that can kill this demon for good."

"Yeah, the only thing that we need is a witch to perform this Coindum spell. We have no idea what this spell does or what supplies we'll need to do it. Plus with Willow kind of out of commission, we don't even have a witch." Xander stared at the road ahead of him. He couldn't believe that Willow still hadn't woken up, everyday that he sat by her hospital bed, he felt like a little piece of himself was dying.

"I'm not talking about Willow. We now have a second witch, again."

"Tara? We can't ask her to do this for us. I mean, she's just come back from the dead to find out that the woman she loves, now has a new girlfriend. She doesn't owe us anything." Xander couldn't imagine asking Tara to put her life in danger for them, especially since if it wasn't for their way of life, Tara never would have died in the first place.

Buffy looked out the window, she could see their house in the distance. The sun was rising and Buffy knew that she wanted to get at least a couple of hours sleep before they went back to the hospital. "I know that she doesn't owe us anything but it doesn't hurt to ask her."

"Spike's going to meet us tonight at the cabin?" Xander asked hoping to change the direction of the conversation.

"Yeah, I hate to ask Kennedy to use the cabin for tonight's Scooby meeting, especially with Willow not being there. But it's too risky for us to talk about this, at the main house. There are too many pairs of teenage ears walking around." Buffy answered as they continued to approach the school.

"We all know about that. Do you hear the rumors that are going around?" Xander asked. He tried to stay away from teenage slayers' gossip but eventually he always ended up hearing it anyways.

"Xan, I try to stay clear from all that drama. It seems to me like the more girls that come to live with us, the more drama there is. I'd really hate to think of the drama that boys would bring to the house." Buffy laughed at the idea of the young female slayers all fighting for a boy's attention.

"Hey! What am I?" Xander was offended.

Buffy looked at Xander as they drove up the driveway that led to the main house. "You're Xander. Our Xander. You're a best friend to Willow and I. And an important part of this team and the school. But do you really want to have a bunch of girls chasing you? Okay, don't answer that question, I already know that answer."

They looked at each other and laughed. As they approached the house, Buffy noticed that the whole property seemed empty. It looked deserted. "Xander, what time is it?"

"Well, we're a little later coming home than usual." He looked down at his watch and answered her question. "It's almost 6am. Where is everyone?"

"I have a feeling that everyone is taking full advantage of us being gone so long. I think that they're all still sleeping."

"Maybe we should wake them?" Xander asked eagerly, he had been hoping to test the new emergency system that he and Willow had set up. They needed to have something that alerted everyone on the grounds, as to when there was an emergency and that they were to all meet at the main house.

Buffy nodded with a large smile on her face. Both climbed out of the jeep and walked over to the large horn that stood in the middle on the driveway. Xander lifted a small cover that revealed an even smaller glowing green button. He then pressed it.

After a couple of seconds delay, a siren started to go off. It was so loud that Buffy and Xander both had to cover their ears. They looked at each other and smiled as everyone started to walk outside still half asleep and covering their own ears from the wailing of the siren.

Once Buffy was sure that everyone was outside, she nodded, letting Xander know that it was time to turn off the siren. "Okay, now that we have everyone awake and alert, how about someone explains to me why there's no training going on? I mean, it isn't the weekend, so there should be no reason for you all to still be asleep. Anyone want to explain this to me?"

All the girls looked at each other, no one wanted to be the one to represent the group. Eventually they all looked at Dawn, they knew that she was one of the only people who weren't afraid of the First Slayer.

Dawn sighed as she noticed all the girls looking at her. They were all her friends, especially since most of them were around her age but she hated being put in the middle when it came to the young slayers and her sister. "I let them sleep in because we'll probably all be up late tonight celebrating."

Buffy looked at her younger sister, she couldn't figure out a reason to celebrate. "Dawn, what are you talking about?"

Tara knew that she wanted to be the one to tell Buffy and Xander that Willow was awake. She also wanted to get to the hospital immediately to see Willow for herself. "Willow's awake."

Buffy's eyes grew in disbelief. Willow was awake meant that she would be okay and that she would be able to help get rid of the demon that put her in a coma in the first place. "When did she wake up? When did Kennedy call?"

Tara looked down at her hands, she really didn't want to start any trouble among the group but Buffy did have a right to know that Kennedy was being less than honest with them and with Willow. She couldn't imagine keeping the news of Willow being awake from those that loved her and worried about her the most. "Kennedy didn't call. Willow sent me a message and that is how I know that she's awake."

Buffy looked around at all the young slayers staring at Tara. She could see their excitement at the good news but Buffy also knew that Tara was holding something back. Buffy needed to know what Tara knew and she knew that Tara wouldn't be comfortable telling everyone something that could be very private. "Girls, now that you are all awake and we know that Willow's going to be okay, how about we start the day? Go get breakfast then I want you guys to start training. And when I mean training, I mean TRAINING. No half-ass playing around. Last night we found out that a demon that we thought we had killed is coming back, I need all you girls to be at the top of your game. I'll explain everything in more detail later but right now we have to get to the hospital."

Buffy scanned the group of young women, trying to figure out who she should place in charge, while they were gone. Normally it would be Kennedy or Dawn but since Kennedy was at the hospital and Dawn would fight to the death if Buffy didn't let her go with them, she knew that she had to place someone else in charge. "Vi! Rona! You girls are in charge today. I'll be calling every few hours to check on things. This demon is serious danger, so I need you to push the other girls to their limits."

Both girls nodded in acknowledgment, they were excited by the new responsibilities given to them.

As soon as Buffy gave them specific instructions for the day, she turned to Tara, Dawn and Xander and said: "Lets go see Willow." She couldn't hide her excitement any longer. Buffy needed to see that Willow was okay with her own eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Chapter 14

On the ride to the hospital, everyone was silent. No one really knew what to say, everyone was happy that Willow was awake but there were still some important questions that needed to be answered and some more serious decisions that needed to be made.

Xander felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when Tara had told them that Willow was awake. Now his anger was centered on Kennedy, he was upset that she didn't have the respect to let them know herself that Willow was awake. He turned to Buffy and asked: "How could Kennedy to this to us? I mean she knows that we're all worried about Willow and she doesn't even bother to call and let us know that we don't have to worry anymore. That Willow is going to be fine."

Buffy understood why everyone was upset with Kennedy, part of her that felt the same way. But Buffy was also able to see things from Kennedy's point of view. Willow being awake meant that Willow would now have to decide who she really wanted to be with. Instead of answering Xander's question, Buffy turned towards the backseat and asked: "Tara, even though Kennedy didn't call, I can't imagine why Willow wouldn't call the house herself to talk to you."

Tara wiped the tears from her eyes, a mix of sad and happy tears. She was happy that Willow was awake and that she would be alright but she was also sad at the idea that Willow would now choose who she love the most. "I think that Kennedy hasn't yet told Willow that I am alive. She's probably scared about what's going to happen. Maybe she just wanted to postpone the inevitable."

As Xander continued to drive, Buffy removed her seatbelt and climbed from the front of the jeep to the backseat and sat between Dawn and Tara. She took Tara's hand in her own and asked softly: "What did Willow tell you?"

Tara looked down at their hands and replied: "Willow was saying goodbye and letting me know that she was moving on."

Buffy was confused, when the demon brought Tara back, Willow had looked right at her. She had seen her for herself. Did Willow forget that part? Did she lose her memory? Or was there something else? But Buffy decided to postpone that conversation as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.

-- --

While Willow slept Kennedy took her time memorizing every detail about the red headed witch, from the scent of strawberry shampoo in her hair to the way that she pouted in her sleep before she snuggled closer to Kennedy.

It was slightly past 8 o'clock in the morning, when Kennedy looked up at the clock. She knew that Buffy, Xander and Tara would soon be arriving for their daily visit and Kennedy knew that it also meant a possible end to her relationship with Willow. She began weighing the pros and cons of fighting for her right to be with Willow, even though she knew that ultimately that the decision would be left up to Willow.

Kennedy gently placed a kiss on the top of Willow's head and said: "Hey Gorgeous, I think that you should start waking up now. The other will be here soon."

Willow sleepily looked up at Kennedy. "But I'm comfortable here with you. Well I guess that getting washed up a little might help me clear my head and I do feel all icky, I could just imagine how I look."

Kennedy kissed Willow softly on the lips and replied: "You look absolutely beautiful. You always do. But you are starting to smell a little rank." She smirked.

Willow playfully hit Kennedy's arm. She thought that she could never love another after Tara's death. And yet she looked up at Kennedy, the woman who had given her a second chance at life and love. As she began tracing her fingers along Kennedy's arm, she decided that she had to find a way to make it up to Kennedy for putting her through hell in regards to Tara.

Willow began thinking about the differences between her relationships with both women. Tara was the first woman that Willow ever fell in love with. That in itself created a special bond. When they first met, Tara was shy and quiet but from the first moment that their hands connected in college, the power and love that they shared was louder than they could ignore.

As their relationship grew, so did both of them, individually and together. Willow learned that she had an addiction to magic and Tara learned that she was stronger emotionally than she had ever thought. Their relationship has been an intensely serious one as was their breakup. But in the end, Tara came back to her, proving that the love between them, only came once in a lifetime and only to a few lucky people.

To Willow, her relationship with Kennedy was the polar opposite. Kennedy had taught Willow that love could overcome all obstacles, by always staying by her side no matter how challenging things became. Kennedy knew from the beginning the dangers that Willow was capable of, and yet she chose to stay. They enjoyed their time together, living life to the fullest. Especially when they decided to play pranks of each other and on the others.

When they weren't busy fighting evil or saving the world from the most recent apocalypse, they still lived an active lifestyle. On their rare weekends away from the school, they enjoyed hiking, rock climbing and skydiving, things that Willow never thought that she would have enjoyed, but surprisingly she always looked forward to their newest and latest adventure. Willow loved the energy high that the extreme sports brought. It reminded her of the high that she had experienced after performing dark magic.

Suddenly Willow let out a small laugh, just loud enough for Kennedy to hear it. "What's the joke?" Kennedy asked in response to Willow's little outburst as she started toying the tips of Willow's long red hair with her fingers.

"Oh nothing… Well, I was just thinking about the last time we went rock climbing. Do you remember that day? If you remember things right, I beat you up the mountain." Willow answered excitedly. She looked up at Kennedy, and teasingly stuck her tongue out, as she grinned letting Kennedy know that it was all in good fun.

"Stop teasing me with that tongue of yours. You'd better not be showing that tongue to anyone else. That tongue belongs to me. Your soft, very talented... See what you do to me? And the only reason that you made it up the mountain first was because you used magic."

"Ken, we both know that I didn't used any magic. I beat you fair and square." Willow continued, her grin growing larger and larger. "But I will give you a little credit, you did seems a little distracted."

Kennedy cupped Willow's face in her hands and gently kissed her lips. "You crazy beautiful woman, of course I was distracted. Every time I looked up the mountain to grab my next ledge, the only thing that I could see was your cute little tight ass. Now that would distract anyone."

Willow turned her head away from Kennedy, trying to hide the reddening of her cheeks as she blushed. After 6 months together, Willow still wasn't used to Kennedy's open flirting.

Kennedy herself laughed as she gently climbed off the bed. She loved to make Willow blush, it was too easy. But Kennedy knew that her time alone with Willow was coming to an end. "So do you want to get cleaned up a bit before the others come walking in, they should be here any moment now."

Willow nodded in agreement and took the arm that Kennedy offered her for support, as she slowly climbed off the bed. Even though her mind was clear, her body was still weak and Willow didn't trust her legs to support her weight by themselves. As she stood, she felt a slight breeze drift along her backside. She then noticed Kennedy's grin turn a little evil, letting Willow know that Kennedy had some plan in mind. "Don't even think about it." Willow warned.

"What?" Kennedy asked, trying to act innocent as she slowly traced her hand down Willow's back to onto Willow's bottom. "This?"

"Kennedy!" Willow yelped, expecting to be shocked that Kennedy would be so brave to do something like that but Willow knew that Kennedy enjoyed the risk. A risk that Willow still wasn't comfortable taking. "We're in a hospital. No touchies." Willow laughed nervously.

Kennedy pulled the back of Willow's hospital gown shut as she led Willow toward the bathroom. Once she was sure that Willow would be okay alone to get washed up, she turned Willow around in her arms, to where both women faced each other, and gently kissed Willow's lips. "I love you and your happiness means more to me than anything. Now, I'll just be outside of this door in case the others show up, we don't want them thinking that you escaped or anything."

Willow only nodded in response as she watched Kennedy close the door behind her.

As soon as Kennedy closed the door, Xander stormed into the room with the others right behind him. "Where is she?" Xander demanded. He couldn't believe that Kennedy could be so selfish to keep the good news about Willow to herself, knowing that everyone was worried about her too.

"She's in the bathroom getting cleaned up." Kennedy replied, her eyes meeting with Tara's.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter. 15

Willow looked into the mirror; she couldn't believe how pale she looked. "Well I guess that it is better than being dead." She thought to herself. Dead. Willow was unable to get the word out of her head. Dead. She wasn't afraid of dying because she knew that when she died, she'd be with Tara again, forever.

Since the cave incident, Willow was unable to shake the familiar feeling of electricity running through her body. The same electric energy that she used to feel whenever Tara touched her. 'It must be just left over from seeing her in the cave. It has to be, she's gone and never coming back.' Her thoughts continued as she tried to fix her hair. 'I hope that this feeling goes away soon; it brings back way too many memories. It's a good thing Buffy killed that demon, because right now I'd do it myself. He took her away from me, just like Warren did.'

As Willow continued to get washed up, she looked back at her reflection. Her eyes had turned pitch black. 'Great, just what I need. I can't deal with this now and not with the others coming. They'll think that I went all evil again.' Willow closed her eyes, trying to block all of the dark thoughts from her mind. She forced herself to think about all the things that she could do with Kennedy on their next weekend off, in order to prove to the young slayer that she truly did love her.

Suddenly Willow heard Xander's voice, he sounded angry. Willow looked into the mirror one last time, making sure that her eyes had gone back to their natural green color. As she opened the door, her eyes instantly locked with Tara's big blue ones. "Tara?"

Xander was barely able to catch Willow as she fainted. "Nice job, Tara. She comes out of a coma and you put her right back in." He said jokingly as he carried Willow over to the hospital bed and gently laid her down.

The moment that Willow was on the bed, Tara rushed to her side. Tara's emotions went into overdrive when she had locked eyes with Willow. But now Willow's eyes were closed again and Tara knew that she would do anything just to see them again. The happiness of seeing Willow, gave Tara hope that their love would be strong enough to overcome this latest and surely their most difficult obstacle.

Willow had woken up but refused to open her eyes. She didn't want to open them and forget the image of seeing Tara standing right in front of her. She feared that by opening them, she would never be able to remember every detail about Tara so clearly, as she did at that moment. But Willow knew that she could possibly be a danger to others if she let herself get worked up over Tara's memory.

Then she suddenly heard Tara's voice. "Willow, wake up. Come back to me. I need you."

Willow thought that she had imagined hearing Tara speak to her. "I have to wake up. I have to stop dreaming. It is just in my head. It's all a dream. Just my imagination showing me what I want to see." Willow quietly whispered as she tried to convince herself, unable to keep the tears from falling.

It broke Tara's heart to watch the woman that she loved, try and convince herself that everything was just a dream, just part of her imagination. Tara cupped Willow's face in her hands. "If this were a dream, Willow, would you be able to feel my hands on your face?"

Willow suddenly opened her eyes and looked right into Tara's. "But how?"

Tara kissed Willow lightly on the forehead and replied: "Fate. And you. But you're the one who brought me back to you."

-- --

Buffy looked over to Xander and Dawn, she left like they were intruding on something very private. And knew that they should leave the two witches alone. She motioned for the others to follow her out of the room.

As they entered the hall, Buffy noticed Kennedy sitting at the end, on the bench, her foot taping the floor so fast and hard that Buffy could have sworn that the tile beneath Kennedy's foot was cracked.

Before walking over to the young slayer, Buffy turned to Dawn and Xander. "I'm just going to go check on Kennedy. How about you guys go grab something to eat in the cafeteria. And while you at it, can you call the house to check on the girls? Today's going to be a very long day. Tara and Willow really need to talk and we still need to figure out what we're going to do to get rid of this demon. But now that Willow's awake, she can help us. I have a feeling we'll need all the help that we can get to kill this one."

"Buffy, think about it. Willow's been through a lot, she needs to recover. Plus she has to figure out who she wants to be with. So this time, I think that we should keep Willow out of battle." Xander tried to explain to the slayer.

Buffy leaned up against the wall and looked over to where Kennedy was sitting. She knew that it would be safer to keep Willow away from battle for a while but this was her battle to fight. Buffy knew that if they kept something like this from Willow, and she ever found out, she would hate them. But after thinking about things for a couple of minutes, she looked back at Xander and Dawn. "Xander, this demon wants Willow. The spell to get rid of him has to be done by a powerful witch. And we both know that Willow is probably the most powerful witch in the world right now. But I hear what you're saying. How about we let Willow make this decision for herself?"

"We all know what she'll choose to do, she's going to want to kill this demon by herself." Xander argued.

Dawn felt as though she was being ignored, and decided to make her opinion known. "Willow's going to try to kill this demon and there is nothing that we can do to stop her. Sure I like Kennedy but Tara's the one that Willow's meant to be with. And until we kill this demon for good, Tara's life still hangs in the balance. We need to stop arguing and figure out a plan that everyone could be happy with."

Xander draped his arm around Dawn. "I think that we should start listening to Dawn more often. She's starting to make sense."

Dawn laughed and replied. "I've been making sense all along. You guys are just too stubborn to listen."

"Okay, let me go talk to Kennedy. I'll fill her in on everything and see what she thinks that we should do. How about we meet back here in an hour? Then we can all decide whether or not to tell Willow about the demon." Buffy offered.

Xander and Dawn both nodded in agreement and left towards the cafeteria.

When Buffy was sure that they were gone, she started walking towards Kennedy. The young slayer had her head in her hands and her foot was still tapping the floor. Buffy looked down at the title under Kennedy's foot, it was cracked into pieces. "Ken, talk to me. And don't bother telling me that it's nothing because that tile says otherwise." She said pointing to the tile on the floor.

Kennedy looked up at Buffy; her eyes were filled with tears. "Instead of talking, can we just go outside and do some training? I really need to work off some of this anger before I have to go back into Willow's room."

Buffy felt sorry for the young slayer. She knew that Willow loved Kennedy and wouldn't intentionally hurt her, but in the end, she did. Willow allowed her emotions and feelings for Tara to cloud her judgment; instead of thinking about what bringing Tara back could do to Kennedy. "Sure. How about we walk over to the park across the street? There's normally no one there at this time of day, so we won't get interrupted."

"Lead the way." Kennedy said as she stood up from the bench and started walking down the hall with Buffy.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter. 16

"Tara?" Willow whispered again, finding it hard to believe that Tara was right in front of her. "But you're dead. Did I die too?"

Tara shook her head and replied. "You brought me back, Willow. You brought me back to you." Tara could no longer prevent the tears from falling.

Willow slowly took Tara's hand in her own; she couldn't believe that her plan had actually worked. She managed to bring Tara back to life when everyone and everything told her that it was impossible. The demon was dead, Tara was back and Kennedy was safe, everything had worked perfectly. Kennedy. Willow realized that she had never considered what bringing Tara back would do to Kennedy. She scanned the room, looking for her girlfriend and noticed that everyone left, leaving her alone with Tara.

Tara followed Willow's gaze around the now empty room. "I guess they wanted to give us some time alone to talk."

Willow could sense that Tara was confused, scared and angry. But at the same time, something inside of her told her that Tara was also filled with love and relief. Willow was surprised that their connection to each other remained as strong as it was before Tara was killed. Before Tara died. Before she went to heaven. Heaven. Willow couldn't believe that she hadn't thought about whether Tara had even wanted to leave heaven. 'Tara must hate me and that's what she wants to tell me, privately. And the others know, that's why they left.' Willow thought to herself.

"How can you even stand to look at me? I'm responsible for pulling you out of heaven, just like I did to Buffy. I know that it was a very selfish thing to do and that I shouldn't have done it. But in my defense, I wasn't thinking clearly. The only explanation that I can give you is that when the demon offered you back to me, I just couldn't say no. If I said no, it would mean that I didn't want you in my life anymore and I can never not want that. I've missed you so much and I still can't believe that you're here. Tara, when you died, it destroyed me. In return, I almost destroyed the world. You must be disgusted with me. I'm disgusted with myself when I think of the things that I did. The things that I could have…" Willow babbled, unable to look Tara in the eye, while she tried to explain her reasons for bringing her back.

Tara gently cupped Willow's cheek in her hand. "Will, stop and look at me." She interrupted.

Willow reluctantly allowed her eyes to meet with Tara's; she was afraid of what she'd see. But when they did meet, Willow saw the most heartbreaking thing of all. Tara's eyes were red from crying.

Tara wiped one of Willow's tear from her cheeks with her thumb. "Honey, why would I hate you? The others told me everything that happened after I died. The things that you did, the darkness and pain that you felt. Do I approve of what you did? No. But do I understand the feelings that you felt when you did those terrible things? Yes. Willow, if it were you who had died, I would have felt those same feelings. But what matters more than anything is that in the end, you didn't destroy the world."

"But I almost did. The only reason that I didn't end up doing it, was because Xander stopped me. How can you even look at me and not be disgusted? Tara, I killed a man. I stripped him of his skin and made him go all poof with fire."

Tara walked away from Willow; she went to the window and looked out over the park. She knew that she needed more time to think about the things that Willow had done. Even though Tara heard what Buffy and Xander told her about the things Willow had done; it wasn't until the moment when Willow told her herself, that Tara truly believed it. Tara couldn't believe that the woman that she loved more than anything took a human life. But Tara knew that she knew the real Willow, the Willow who would have never hurt a fly, had she been in control of her own power. But due to her addiction to the black magics, she was left vulnerable to its power.

Tara turned back towards Willow, she could tell by the look in Willow's eyes that she regretted having taken a human life but that she had also accepted the fact that there was nothing that she could do to change it now. Tara found it very important to remind herself that Willow did end up going to England with Giles, where she learned from a coven, how to control her powers. She was sure that Giles would never have let Willow leave the coven if she had still been a danger to others. But every time Tara closed her eyes, the only thing that she was able to see was Willow in the cave, her eyes and hair pure black. It frightened her to think of the true darkness that the love of her life was capable of.

Tara hated the way that every time she thought about a good thing that Willow had done, she would also thinking about the terrible things that Willow had done. There were two thing that Tara was sure of. The first thing was that she still loved Willow with every fiber of her being and secondly, Tara knew that Willow needed her just as much as she needed Willow. "Willow, I know that there is a lot that we need to talk about. To me, I've only been away from you for 4 days and the only reason for that was because you were in a coma. And those 4 days have been as scary and lonely as those months that we spent apart. But for you, we've been separated for almost 2 years. You watched me die in your arms…." Tara paused; she knew that she wanted to get through this part, without any more tears. "In those 2 years, Willow, you've gone through a lot. You've changed and grown as a person. I think that means that we need to figure out if we still fit in each other's lives but that can wait till later. Right now, can you just be kissing me?"

After about an hour of intense sparring, Buffy and Kennedy collapsed on the grass. The park was nearly empty so they weren't disturbed. Neither one of them had spoken a word since leaving the hospital.

Buffy knew that Kennedy, being very much like Faith, needed to work off her excess energy or trouble could possibly start. But there was something bothering Buffy and she knew that it would continue to eat at her until she asked Kennedy about it. "Honestly Ken, what are you still doing here?"

Kennedy jumped up onto her feet. "What the hell do you mean?" She yelled. "Just because SHE's back, it doesn't mean that Willow and I are over. I'm not going to give up that easily."

"I'm sorry, that came out all wrong. I just meant that you are as good of a slayer as Faith and I. You don't need the school to teach you anything anymore. Plus, I talked to Giles yesterday and I know that Faith wants you to join her team up in Cleveland. And Faith usually gets what she wants." Buffy explained.

Kennedy had hoped to keep everything quiet until she had made a decision. She knew that she no longer needed the school, but a part of her did. The school meant Willow. But Kennedy knew that the decision about whether or not to leave the slayer school was not going to be an easy one to make.

When Kennedy remained silent, Buffy decided to ask: "You haven't told Willow, have you?"

Kennedy sat back down on the grass, next to Buffy. "Faith called me about 2 weeks ago, she told me that they needed help in Cleveland and that I was the only slayer other than you, that she trusted to watch her back. Which is funny considering you stabbed her in the stomach and put her in a coma."

"Funny, Kennedy. Now get back to your story."

"She wants me to move up to Cleveland. But everything was going so great with Willow and I. I was trying to avoid having to give Faith an answer until she comes down for the slayer exams. And I guess that I was hoping that she would see another slayer and ask her instead of me. That way Faith and I can still be friends and she wouldn't be mad at me for choosing Willow over slaying. But no, Willow doesn't know and you can't tell her. I have to be the one to tell her, but only when and if I make a decision. But there isn't any rush to make a decision right now is there?"

Buffy knew that she would eventually have to tell Kennedy about the demon's return. "You're decision is going to have to wait at least a few more days. We don't need anything else upsetting Willow right now, she has to recover and fast. Kennedy, there's something that you need to know… The demon that brought Tara back is making his comeback on the full moon and we don't know who he's going to go after. It can be Tara, Willow or you."

Kennedy was confused; she thought that the demon part of their problems was over. "Buffy, didn't you kill it?" She asked.

"That is what I thought. Xander and I found out that this demon is called a Behemon Demon. This type of demon can only be killed one way; a specific spell needs to be performed. So in the end, I didn't kill this Behemon demon. It's coming back and we have to stop it before it messes up someone else's life."

"You're telling me that Willow needs to be the one to do this spell?"

Buffy could only nod in response; she left like she was making one of the toughest decisions of her life. The best friend part of her wanted to keep Willow safe, to allow her to make her decision between Kennedy and Tara, in peace. But the slayer part of her knew what needed to be done; the demon needed to be killed.

"Willow's our best bet at beating this demon once and for all. Xander disagrees with me though, he thinks that we should try and figure something else out. The only other possibility that I could think of is to ask Tara if she would do it. But I think that this might be too dark artsy for her."

"Willow should be allowed to make the decision for herself. If she wants to do it, then I'll support her. But I don't think that Tara should be involved, if something were to happen to her, again, then I seriously think that we'll lose Willow to the darkness forever. And I really don't feel like having to kill my girlfriend." Kennedy voiced her concerns. As much as she didn't like Tara, she knew that Tara was important to Willow.

Buffy let out a short laugh. "Kennedy, when Willow went all end-the-world on us, she could have easily killed me if she had wanted. So don't think for a second that you'd be able to take evil Willow on. But I know what you mean, I don't want to lose Willow either. But I doubt that Tara will just stand by and do nothing. That isn't who she is. Kennedy, you don't have any idea how power Tara really is, do you?"

"I just know that she isn't as power as Willow is. So if I can handle Willow, I'm sure that Tara won't be a problem."

"In some ways Tara is a lot more powerful than Willow. Tara is protective over those that she loves. And that can be dangerous, just as dangerous as Willow's darkness." Buffy further explained, trying to make Kennedy understand the severity of the situation.

"So you're telling me that there is nothing that I can do to make sure that she stays away from my girlfriend? You guys probably all think that I'm probably going to lose her anyways, don't you?" Questioned Kennedy.

Buffy was unsure how to answer. She looked up towards the hospital and wondered how things were going between Willow and Tara. Buffy did like Kennedy, even though she sometimes asked like a brat, she was good for Willow. And in the end, Willow did have a positive effect on Kennedy. But Buffy truly believed that Willow and Tara were soul mates and that in the end, they could only be truly happy with each other. "Kennedy, there are only two people who can answer that question, you and Willow. No one knows what's going to happen to us in the future. Uncertainty is just a part of life, especially ours. But no matter what happens, I'll still be here for you, Willow and Tara."

Kennedy stood up and replied: "So how about we go talk to Willow about this demon thing. Kill the demon. Then I'll see if I still have a girlfriend." She began walking towards the hospital, wondering what was going on in that hospital room while she was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter. 17

"What?" Willow asked, she was unsure whether she heard Tara correctly.

Tara smiled, lowering her head, allowing her hair to fall slightly over her face. She slowly looked back up at Willow and repeated. "Right now, can you just be kissing me?"

"I can't." Willow answered. Instantly she could see in the pain in Tara's eyes. "Wait, it isn't that I don't want to be kissing you. Oh, I really do want to. But I can't hurt Kennedy that way." Willow knew that her refusal had upset Tara, but Willow knew that she could never cheat on anyone ever again, especially after what had happened between her and Xander when she first started dating Oz.

Tara stepped away from the bed, turning to look out the window. She didn't want Willow to see her tears, but Willow's rejection tore Tara's heart into pieces. She felt like Willow had already chosen Kennedy over her. "You love her, don't you?"

Willow maneuvered herself slowly off the bed and walked over to where Tara stood. She wrapped her arms around the witch and gently placed her chin on Tara's shoulder. "I do care about her, yes. Do I love her? I can't answer that question. But there is one question that I can answer. Do I love you? Yes, I love you more than anything in this world, Tara McClay. I could never love anyone the way that I love you. You being here right now, is my biggest wish come true. I'm so sorry that I can't show you how much I love you, but I can't do it while I'm still dating Kennedy. But we do have to figure out if our love is enough to rebuild a relationship on."

Tara turned around in Willow's arms, to where they faced each other. She wrapped her own arms around Willow. "I love you and as hard as it is to believe, I love you more now than I ever have. After everything that has happened, to see you still standing here and smiling, I feel proud to say that you're my Willow." After a moment, Tara corrected herself. "That you WERE my Willow. I'm sorry that I asked you to kiss me; it wasn't fair for me to put you in that position, I wasn't thinking about Kennedy. But Willow, this is all so confusing because to me, you're are still my Willow tree but yet I know that you now share a bed with Kennedy."

In order to stop her from talking, Willow cupped Tara's face in her hands, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She knew that things were confusing for Tara, they were confusing to her as well and she lived through it all. Willow wanted nothing more than to kiss Tara, except she wasn't sure if she could allow her heart, or Tara's, to take that risk again. 'When Tara finds out what I can do, she'll leave me. I don't think that I can handle her leaving me again, it would destroy me.' Willow thought to herself as she stood on her toes, partially giving into her temptations as she gently placed a kiss on Tara's forehead. "If we are meant to be together then I have to believe that it will happen."

After a few minutes of staring into each other's eyes, Tara began helping Willow back into the hospital bed. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, both women turned to see Buffy walking into the room, followed by Xander, Dawn and Kennedy.

Kennedy quickly walked over to Willow's side. But instead of standing on the opposite side of the bed from Tara, she chose to stand between Willow and Tara.

Buffy could feel the tension in the room rising. "I'm sorry, Will, but I think that your love life will have to wait. We need your help getting rid of this Behemon demon. This Behemon demon-thingy is..."

"Is the demon that brought Tara back and because I was unable to finish the spell, he is either back or coming back to take what he feels is owed to him. In this case, he'll want either Kennedy or Tara's life. This demon might even decide that he wants revenge and come after me. I am hoping for the third option." Willow finished.

"Will, stop it. I'm not going to let anything happen to Tara, Kennedy or you. But I will need everyone's help." Buffy turned to Tara and Kennedy. "That means the two of you too. But this plan is a no-go without Willow. Will, you in?" Buffy knew that she had to get Willow to agree to her plan.

"Just tell me what you need me to do." Willow replied, knowing that she had to do everything in her power to finally get rid of this Behemon demon since she felt as though his return was her fault.

Buffy walked over to Willow's side and took her best friend's hand in her own. "I need you to finish the spell that you started. I have a feeling that you know a lot more about this demon than you led us to believe. But we'll talk about you hiding things from me, later. Do you think that you can do this Coin-Something spell again?"

Tara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Willow had just woken up after being in a four-day coma and Buffy was already asking Willow to do a spell. But not just any simple spell but a Coindum spell. Tara wasn't too familiar with the spell but one thing that she did know was that it required the use of dark magic. 'Oh Goddess,' she thought to herself. 'They expect her to use dark magic when they know that could hurt her. And I refuse to let Willow become addicted to that power again.' She felt as though she had been given a second chance with Willow and that keeping her safe was probably the reason. She knew that she had to do everything in her power to protect the woman that she loved, even if that meant protecting her from her friends. "Willow, you don't have to do this. This spell is very dangerous and you're still too weak to be doing magic this powerful."

Willow looked up at Tara and simply replied: "I have to do this."

"Honey, you're risking…" Tara began before she was interrupted.

"Don't call her that. And stop doubting her, if she thinks that she can do this Coin-something spell, then who are we to tell her that she can't." Kennedy added into the conversation. She knew that she didn't know very much about the relationship between both witches but one thing that she didn't appreciate was the fact that Tara was trying to control Willow.

Tara looked at every person in the room, expecting someone to support her. Xander refused to make eye contact with her. Dawn was looking at Buffy and Buffy was looking at Willow, while Willow stared down at her hands as they rested on her lap.

After a few moments of silence, Tara realized that she was outnumbered. The best that she could hope for was that Willow would listen to her and be careful. "Even if Willow does do this spell, we need time to research what we need for it and find out what this spell actually does."

Willow glanced up at Tara, their eyes locking. "We need to spend our time researching this demon. Don't worry about the spell, lets just say that I know a lot about the Dark Arts."

"But how?" Tara asked. She hadn't thought that Willow would have studied the Dark Arts after almost destroying the world because of their influence on her.

Xander chose this moment to speak up. "She kinda sucked everything out of all the black arts books that were in the Magic Box. But don't worry that was when she was all dark and veiny." He decided to stop talking after noticing the looks that Buffy, Dawn and Kennedy were sending him.

"Tara, come here please." Willow asked. As Tara walked passed Kennedy, to Willow's side, Willow took Tara's hand in her own. "Don't worry about me. I know how to do this spell. But Buffy is right about one thing; I am going to need your help for this. I understand though, if you don't want to. I don't want you to feel forced into anything that you don't want to do. I'm sure Buffy might be able to use your help in the infirmary after we get rid of this demon, if things go bad. Or, if you just want to stand back, then that is okay as well. I mean you didn't sign up for this…"

"Willow, stop and breath. You're babbling again and as cute as that is, it is unnecessary. Of course, I'll help you. But I won't lie to you, you doing this really scares me."

Willow smiled softly looking up at Tara. She then turned to Kennedy. "I'll be needing your help too. Up for it?" She asked.

Kennedy walked over to the other side of the bed, where Buffy stood. She took Willow's other hand in her own and brought it softly up to her lips. "You know it." Kennedy replied, gently placing a kiss on Willow's hand.

Willow looked over to Buffy and asked: "Can you spare a slayer in battle, at least until after I do the spell?"

Buffy smiled, knowing that Willow was now onboard with the plan. She knew that Willow had a tough decision to make; she had to choose between her new girlfriend and her dead girlfriend. Buffy felt guilty about asking her best friend to wait but she knew that Willow understood that fighting evil came before all else. Buffy turned to Kennedy and said: "Sorry Ken, I guess you'll just have to miss the best part."

Kennedy laughed and replied: "I'll get the next one."

Tara was confused. She stood next to Willow, trying to understand why this type of spell would require a slayer. "Willow, why do you need a slayer? Because if it is for protection, we could always just do the spell someplace safe or just put up some sort of protective barrier."

Instead of allowing Willow to answer, Kennedy spoke up. "She doesn't need me as a slayer, she needs me to be a kite string. Her kite string."

"Kennedy has been my kite string for all of my major spells since well… since I started practicing magic again after going all dark and veiny." Willow explained, letting her eyes fall again onto her lap. She hated the fact that she was hurting the two women that she loved. Willow knew that she needed more time to make her decision, she felt as though both women held separate parts of her heart. Tara was her goddess. She was gentle, sweet and beautiful, she was also fiercely protective when it can to those that she loved. But it bothered Willow to know that Tara would never be able to fully understand the things that Willow had gone through in the last 2 years. She didn't blame Tara for not knowing, she knew that it wasn't Tara's fault that Warren had shot her, taking her away from everyone that loved her. Willow began wondering if Tara would ever be able to accept Willow's use of magic. Especially since it was Willow's use of magic that had broken them up in the first place.

Willow's thoughts then turned to Kennedy, and how much the young slayer meant to her. Their connection was different and not as strong as her connection with Tara, but yet there was still something. And Willow knew that it wasn't only because of her connection to all new slayers.

'It's because she's my slayer, my kite string.' Willow thought to herself. She knew that no matter what, Kennedy would be right by her side, fighting. Even though Kennedy still didn't fully understand magic, she always supported Willow, pushing her to new limits that Willow knew she never would have tried had it not been for Kennedy's love and support. But Willow also felt like she was responsible for holding Kennedy back from achieving her full slayer potential. Willow knew that Kennedy would do great things as a slayer but that it wouldn't happen if she stayed in Trona, with her.

Willow couldn't forget that she had to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life but she knew that it would have to wait until after this demon was destroyed. "Buffy, I can't do this spell here, I need to be at home. Do you think that you can get me out of here?"

"I'll go talk to your doctor; I can be very persuasive." Buffy replied laughing as she left the room to look for Willow's doctor.

-- --

A few hours later, Willow happily watched as everyone climbed out of the jeep. The doctor had reluctantly discharged her after Buffy swore that they would take good care of her. The doctor's only stipulation was that one of them had to learn the proper way of changing Willow's bandages and to clean the wound. Since everyone knew that Buffy would be too busy with the young slayers and since Dawn and Kennedy couldn't stomach the sight of blood, the only other logical choice was Tara.

Willow remembered how she had blushed when the nurse taught Tara how to change the bandages, leaving Willow's breasts fully exposed. It wasn't that Willow felt uncomfortable being partially naked in front of Tara or Kennedy, it was the fact that she was topless in front of both Tara and Kennedy at the same time.

"Will, put your arm around my neck." Xander said, snapping Willow out of the uncomfortable memory. Willow wrapped her arm around Xander's neck as he lifted her out of the jeep, carrying her in his arms. He started carrying her towards the main house when Willow stopped him. "Xander, I want to be in MY cabin, in MY own room."

"But Willow, we can take better care of you at the house. I'm sure that we can get you anything that you might need from the cabin.." Buffy answered.

Kennedy stepped out from behind the van, which she had parked next to the jeep. "You guys have a lot of planning to do, you won't have time to take care of Willow. Not the way that she needs to be taken care of. Since I'm out of this one, and since she's my girlfriend, I'll take care of her in our cabin."

"See, Kennedy is going to take care of me. Buffy, you know that if I stay at the main house, I won't get any rest with a house full of slayers who are happy to see me. I promise not to do anything that might be considered strenuous until spell time. I'll be a good girl." Willow pleaded, knowing that the Slayer would never be able to resist giving into Willow once she started begging.

"Fine but you have to promise to let me know if you start feeling worse than you do right now." Buffy said, giving into her best friend. She turned to Kennedy and continued with her orders. "Ken, I'm trusting you to make sure that she gets a lot of rest. If you want, I can send a couple of slayers to do some research, that way Willow can rest even more."

"No, there won't be a need. I'll do the research and I promise you that Willow will get lots of rest and attention." Kennedy smirked as she looked up at Willow, who was still in Xander's arms.

"I can help with the research. I have… have to stay close to Willow… for the bandages." Tara offered. She didn't like the idea of Willow and Kennedy being alone in the cabin. Even though she was aware of the fact that they had lived together, it made everything more realistic to actually see if for herself.

It infuriated Kennedy to have Tara try and insert herself even more into her life with Willow. "No it's okay. I can handle this. My girl, my house, my business." Kennedy said, letting Tara know that she was marking her territory when it came to Willow.

"Okay, it's actually Willow's house and I deal with enough jealousy when it comes to Angel and Spike, I don't need this from you. Okay, Kennedy?" Buffy turned from Kennedy to Tara. "Tara, thank you for offering to do some research. I have a few books of Willow's, back in the house. You can bring them down to Willow's cabin with you. That way it will give Kennedy enough time to come to her senses and get Willow set up before the two of you get down to some research."

"Think of the important thing here, if we don't kill this demon, it is going to kill one of you, making Willow's decision a lot simpler. Agreed?" Buffy asked both women.

Tara and Kennedy looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Willow looked over to Buffy and mouthed 'Thank you' as Xander turned and began carrying her towards the small cabin by the lake.


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: I am so so sorry that this chapter took so long to post. I promise that you won't have to wait nearly as long for the next one. Please continue to reply, they are all greatly appreciated._

Chapter. 18

"Kennedy, can you please pass me that old green book with the demon on the cover?" Willow asked as she sat on her bed, propped up by multiple pillows. She wondered how many of the pillows Kennedy had stolen from the beds of the other young slayers.

Willow knew that they only had a limited amount of time to do research before she had to do the spell. And Willow wanted to make sure that she knew everything that there was to know about this Behemon demon. But she found that rather difficult when Kennedy refused to allow her to get off the bed. Willow watched as Kennedy moved around the room, making sure that Willow had everything that she would need while Kennedy was doing the research with Tara. Willow grew more and more uncomfortable with the idea of Tara and Kennedy doing research alone together in the attic, while she laid, feeling useless, in her bedroom below.

Since Willow knew that Kennedy wasn't likely to bend on the whole getting-out-of-bed topic, she hoped that she could convince the young slayer to at least allow her to help with the research.

Kennedy didn't like the idea of leaving Willow alone while she was injured, even if she was only going to be a few feet away, doing research in the attic with Tara. Tara. Kennedy felt as though she was allowing Tara to intrude on her life with Willow, by allowing her to come into their home. And the thought of Tara being the one to clean and change Willow's bandages, made Kennedy's blood boil. She kicked herself for not being able to stomach the sight of blood and therefore wasn't able to change Willow's bandages herself, leaving an opening for Tara to just walk in and take Willow from her. But that is where Kennedy put her foot down; she would allow Tara to care for Willow's wound but that is where it ended. Kennedy swore to herself that she would be the one to take care of everything else that Willow needed. "I'm not giving you the book. You don't need it because you'll be sleeping. The doctor said that you need to rest, and right now, I agree with him."

"Please Ken, I want to help. I need to help. This is all my fault and I have to fix it."

"Willow, I am not giving you the book. And you will fix it, because you'll to the one doing the spell that finally kills this demon for good. So, let me do the research, let me help you. Think of this as my way of showing you how much I love you." Kennedy stated as she sat on the bed, next to Willow.

"And I love you too. Can I please have a book? I don't care which book as long as it's old and about demons." Willow still hoped that she could convince the stubborn slayer to change her mind.

"Nope. You're not getting the book or any book for that matter. No research literally means no research. And you are not getting out of this bed, at least until the others come over later to go over to the plan."

"I don't want to argue anymore about this. I'll just get up and get the book myself." Willow said as she realized that Kennedy wasn't going to change her mind. But that didn't mean that Willow was giving up on the idea of doing some research herself.

Kennedy laughed as she climbed over Willow, straddling the witch's legs. "If you even try to move, I'll dig up those handcuffs that we bought when we were in L.A. I told you that they would come in handy in the bedroom." Her grin grew as Willow blushed. "Will, do you give up yet? Because I could always give you a preview of things that we could do with the handcuffs after you recover." Kennedy let out a laugh as Willow's face grew redder than it ever had. She then noticed that Willow wasn't looking at her anymore, she was looking over Kennedy's shoulder. The young slayer turned around to see what had her girlfriend's attention. In the bedroom doorway stood Tara.

"I… could come back… later." Tara stuttered. It pained her to see Willow and Kennedy in such an intimate position. Kennedy's words kept repeating themselves in Tara's head. But everything in Tara's mind went silent as her eyes met with Willow's. She could tell that Willow was sorry that Tara had witnessed their little conversation.

"Do you mind? Willow and I were kinda having a private moment here. And don't you knock?" Kennedy said angrily. Kennedy had felt like for a moment things with Willow were as they used to be. But now that Tara was back from the dead, Willow treated Kennedy differently.

"I'm so…sorry. I'll leave…leave you two alone." Tara stuttered again. She hated how Kennedy had the ability to feel so nervous. She couldn't remember the last time that she stuttered so much. Although Tara didn't want to leave Willow and Kennedy alone together, she didn't want to start an argument between the couple, either.

Willow couldn't believe that of all moments for Tara to walk in, it had to be at the exact wrong time. The hurt in Tara's eyes was evident and it broke Willow's heart to know that she was the source of it. "Tara, we didn't hear you come in. You don't have to leave. Is it already time to change the bandages?"

"I'm sorry, the door was open. I should have knocked first. But… but I see that you're busy, I can come back later. It's no problem." Tara replied.

"Xander must have accidentally left the door open when he left. Tara, don't leave. We can change the bandages now then we can start on the research." Willow turned her gaze from Tara to Kennedy. "Ken, how about you go get everything set up in the attic while Tara changes my bandages?" She asked. 'I hope that she doesn't start acting jealous again. I know that she has every right to, and I would probably do it too if I was ever in her place. But right now isn't the time.' Willow thought to herself.

Kennedy couldn't believe what Willow was asking her to do. Her own girlfriend was asking her to leave while the ex-girlfriend stayed. She didn't like the idea of leaving Willow alone with Tara, especially when she knew that in order for Tara to clean the wound, Willow would have to be topless. Even though Kennedy knew that Tara had obviously already seen Willow naked, Willow's body now belonged to Kennedy. "Will, I'm not leaving her here alone with you. And you are still not going to help with the research, so give up already."

"Kennedy, how about this? You go get the thing ready in the library while Tara changes my bandages." Willow could tell that Kennedy was about to object again and before she could, Willow finished what she was saying. "And I promise not to do any research. I won't do anything that can even be considered a learning experience. I won't even look at a book. I'll just sit here and look out the window. Maybe I'll even decide to get some sleep."

Kennedy knew that now wasn't the time to argue with Willow, not with Tara standing right there and not when Willow was still clearly weak and needed time to recover. "Fine. I'm just going to have a small discussion with Xander about learning to close the front door when he leaves." Kennedy then turned to Tara and warned: "I'll be right back. Don't try anything with my girlfriend. And if I find out…"

"Thank you, Kennedy." Willow said interrupting her girlfriend's jealous ranting.

"You're so lucky that I love you." Kennedy replied as she climbed off of Willow. Before turning to leave the room, Kennedy leaned over and gently kissed Willow. She could feel Willow's resistance in the kiss and pulled away, not wanting to push Willow. The fact that Willow didn't respond to the kiss, hurt Kennedy more than Tara's return from the dead did. Kennedy refused to allow Willow or Tara to see her cry. She quickly climbed off the bed and started walked out of the room.

Once Tara was sure that Kennedy had left the cabin, she cautiously walked into the bedroom. Tara looked around at her surroundings. Wedged in the corner was a large bed, taking most of the space in the small room. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were a small wardrobe and a dresser. Tara then noticed the bag that the hospital had sent home with Willow; the bag that contained all the materials needed to clean and redress Willow's wound. She picked up the bag and started placing the items from the bag on the dresser.

Willow watched as Tara silently made her way around the room. "I'm sorry, Tara. I'm sorry that you had to see that. I'm sorry for what I'm putting you through. I know that you must hate me."

Tara turned to Willow, with a look of confusion on her face. "How can I ever hate you? Willow, nothing in this world could ever make me hate you. I'm not saying that it didn't hurt to see you and Kennedy like that, it made this whole situation a lot more real. But I do understand that she is your girlfriend and that as your girlfriend, she'll want to kiss you. Kennedy does kind of scare me though."

Willow took Tara's hand in her own. "You have nothing to be scared of. Kennedy is just scared and whenever she's scared, she goes into tough slayer mode. I'm sorry for hurting you and for hurting Kennedy. I would understand if you never want to talk to me again. This whole mess is my fault and maybe I should have thought about things more thoroughly before I took that demon's offer."

Tara quickly withdrew her hand from Willow's. "Are you saying that you wouldn't take the demon's offer to bring me back, if you had the chance to do things over again?" Tara couldn't believe what she had just heard. 'Did Willow really did move on? Maybe she loves Kennedy more than she loves me. Maybe she only told me that she still loves me because she feels guilty for bringing me back.'

"No! No! I don't want you to ever think that!" Willow quickly said, not wanting to give Tara the time to think of the possibly that Willow would have chosen to not bring her back. "Tara, I don't want you to ever doubt the way that I feel about you. I love you and a part of me always will. I only meant that I would have decided what I really wanted before I brought you back."

Tara shyly gave Willow one of her famous half-smiles. All of Tara's doubt about Willow's love for her, instantly disappeared. One thing that Willow said gave Tara hope that there was still a chance that they'd be together again. Willow said that if she had another chance to do things over again, she would have chosen who she really wanted to be with. Deep inside, Tara hoped that Willow had meant that she would have ended her relationship with the young slayer before bringing Tara back, allowing them to be together again. She suddenly realized what she was hoping for and was ashamed of herself. She knew that the only way that her and Willow could be together again was if Willow broke up with Kennedy. Tara remembered the pain that she felt when she had broken up with Willow, it had felt like her heart had been removed and Tara didn't wish that pain on anyone. She knew that the slayer truly loved Willow a great but Tara wondered if Willow felt the same for the slayer.

Tara watched as Willow struggled to unzip her sweater. "Let me help you with that." Tara offered as she moved closer to the injured witch. She soon figured out the problem was with the zipper, it was caught on some of the material from the inside of the sweater. Without thinking of the consequences, Tara inserted her hand inside Willow's sweater as she removed the small piece of material from the zipper. As her hand brushed against Willow's stomach, Tara struggled to think clearly. She missed the feel of Willow's soft skin and longed to touch it but she knew that she had to control herself.

Suddenly both women were overcome with desire as the familiar power and heat passed through them.

Tara's long blond hair, brushed over Willow's face as she fixed the zipper on Willow's sweater. Willow took the opportunity to deeply inhale the scent of Tara's hair. It was a smell that she had long longed for. Even though Willow had never forgotten the smell of Tara's hair, she never remembered the scent ever making her heart beat so fast.

Willow let out a soft sign of discontent as Tara pulled away. She sat up in the bed, allowing Tara to assist her in removing the sweater. Suddenly pain from the magically caused bullet hole shot right through her chest, temporarily making it difficult for her to breathe.

Tara noticed Willow's body stiffen and pulled away, concerned as to the reason why. That was when she saw the tears in Willow's eyes. "What's wrong, Sweetie?" She asked.

After a couple of minutes, Willow was finally able to catch her breath. As the pain slightly eased, she responded. "Nothing's wrong, my chest just hurts a little. I think that maybe Kennedy's right, maybe I shouldn't be moving around a lot."

"Does it hurt?" Tara asked, she didn't like seeing the woman that she loved in such pain. "The doctor sent some pain medication home with us. I mean, home with you. I could go and grab it for you. I think that I saw it in the kitchen when I came in."

"Tara, this school is your home too, if you want it to be. And no on the medicine, the pain isn't that bad, as long as I don't move. Plus it makes me all sleepy and loopy and I need to stay awake in case any of the second generation slayers get hurt while on patrol tonight." Willow stated, trying to mask the actual amount of pain that she was really in.

Tara could tell that Willow was trying to be strong and yet the pain was evident in Willow's eyes. "Honey, I know that you're in pain. Just take the medicine; it'll help you rest. I'm sure that Buffy and the others can take care of any slayers, should anyone get hurt while on patrol. You need to concentrate on yourself right now."

"They might need me. What if they need me to do a healing spell or something and I'm all loopy on pain medicine?"

"You're not the only person here who could do a healing spell. Since I'm here now, let me help you. Plus right now, you're the one who needs the healing. But don't use your magic to heal yourself. You need to save your strength and power to do this spell, that you insist on doing yourself. You need to rest and let your body heal naturally. How about we get these dressings changed before you get an infection and get sick? Then we could talk about this Coindum Spell that you want to do."

Willow remained silent, only nodding in response.

As Tara started to slowly unwrap the bandages from around Willow's upper body, she was careful to take her time. She didn't want to cause Willow more pain and she wanted to cherish the little time that they had alone together.

Once the dressings were removed, Willow nervously covered her breasts with her arms as she now sat topless on the bed.

Tara lowered her head, allowing her hair to shield her face as Willow's sudden shyness caused her to smile. But her smile quickly disappeared as she realized that Willow hadn't suddenly become shy. In Willow's mind, Tara hadn't seen her semi-nude body in over two years. Even though, to Tara, it had only felt like a week since her and Willow spent two full days in bed together.

A part of Willow felt enormous guilt as she sat topless and alone with Tara, on the bed that she shared with Kennedy. And the guilt grew as thought about making love to Tara again, filled her head. This caused an internal war within Willow. 'Here I am with Tara again, the thing that I wanted most in the world, but I can't touch her. I can't hurt Kennedy that way; it wouldn't be fair to her. What am I going to do? I love Kennedy but I love Tara too. But she's still amazingly beautiful, my beautiful angel. I wonder if making love to her now would create the same magic that it did before?' Willow asked herself as her mind continued to drift. 'Wait! Bad thoughts! I can't be thinking about Tara like that. Oh but Goddess… her hands… Stop thinking about it! Think about Kennedy. Imagine that it's Kennedy here with you and not Tara. Think Kennedy. Think Kennedy and…Tara.' After a few minutes, Willow gave up trying to control her thoughts. Her mind told her to think about Kennedy, yet her body screamed for Tara.

Tara's voice suddenly pulled Willow from her own world. "What?" Willow asked, not having heard what Tara said.

Tara smiled; she had watched Willow's eyes close at the feel of Tara's hand on her skin. Tara then knew that they both felt the same thing as power and heat between them grew stronger by the minute. "You have to move your arm so that I can properly clean the stitches before I re-bandage it." Tara whispered, trying to hide the lust that she felt for the petite witch. She found it a lot more difficult to care for Willow than she had expected. When Tara had agreed to help, she hadn't thought of the repercussions of seeing Willow exposed in such a way and yet knowing that she couldn't just grab Willow and kiss her the way that she wanted to, the way that she knew Willow wanted her to.

Tara had spent the nights that Willow was in a coma, dreaming about touching her redheaded witch but now that she was actually touching Willow, she knew that the next three days were going to be long ones.

-- --

Kennedy ran to the main house, looking for Xander. After a few minutes, she found him in the kitchen with Buffy and Dawn.

"What's up, Ken? Is everything okay with Willow?" Buffy asked the young slayer as she saw her walk into the room.

"Xander! You planned it, didn't you? You planned everything." Kennedy exploded, not caring that there were other people in the room.

Xander almost chocked on his sandwich as Kennedy started yelling at him. "What exactly did I do wrong?" He quickly racked his mind, trying to figure out what he did to make her this upset.

"You left the cabin door wide open when you left earlier. And she just walked in. Again! This time she interrupted me and Willow. You probably did it on purpose. I know that you've all known Tara longer and like her better than me. And I'm not stupid; I know that you guys think that Willow and Tara are meant to be together. Sorry to burst your bubble but I'm not going anywhere until Willow tells me it's over."

Buffy decided to step in before Kennedy went into full Faith-mode. "Kennedy, no one is trying to sabotage your relationship with Willow. Xander probably left the door open by mistake. We all know that it wouldn't be the first time. How about you just sit down and we can calmly talk this over?"

"How am I supposed to stay calm? That woman is alone with my girl in my bedroom and I'm the one who gets asked to leave. And when I kissed Willow, she didn't even kiss me back." Kennedy stopped for a moment as her mind changed directions. "How much do you wanna bet that Tara put some kind of spell on Willow. From what you guys say, she could do it; she's a powerful witch. Why wouldn't she? She knows that Willow and I are still together and she's using magic to try and break us up. I see the way that they look at each other, there's something just not normal there. When I get proof, I'm going to make that woman pay for…"

"Tara would never use magic on Willow!" Dawn yelled, defending the woman that she considered to be a second mother to her.

"Dawn, calm down. We all know that Tara would never put a spell on Willow." Buffy knew that Dawn felt strongly towards Tara and didn't want to have to stop Kennedy from trying to kill her.

Dawn couldn't believe that Buffy was telling her to calm down when it was Kennedy who stormed into the room and starting saying lies about Tara. "Buffy, you and Xander might want Kennedy to believe that everything will be okay and that Willow and her could still live happily ever after. When everyone who knows Willow AND Tara, knows that they are soul mates and belong together. Kennedy, you said that you see the way they look at each other, that is what true love looks like. If Tara hadn't died, she and Willow would still be together and you'd be just another new slayer. So yes, Kennedy, my vote is for Tara to get the girl not you."

Kennedy didn't know what to say, Dawn had just confirmed all of Kennedy's fears.

"Dawn, stop it." Buffy ordered. Even though she agreed with what Dawn said, she didn't approve of the way that she said it.

"Why? I'm only telling the truth." Dawn replied.

"Because this isn't the time to be arguing about this. We have a demon to kill in a few days and we need everyone to be working together. If we don't, it could end up killing someone. Do you really want that on your conscience?" Buffy asked her sister.

"But you agree with her, don't you?" Kennedy asked, looking directly at Buffy. She then turned to Xander and finished. "Both of you do."

Xander remained silent, he was unsure of what to say. A part of him agreed with Dawn, yet he knew that Willow did love Kennedy. But he wasn't sure if his best friend loved Kennedy as much as she loved Tara. Xander, just like Dawn and Kennedy, saw the way that the two witches looked at each other and the love that they still clearly shared.

Buffy could tell that Xander wasn't going to answer Kennedy's question. "I can't speak for Xander but I understand what Dawn is saying. We were all very close to Tara; she was and still is part of our family. But what we believe doesn't matter. The only person whose opinion matters in this is Willow's. And she loves you, don't forget that. We all love you; you're part of this team and an essential part of this school. But no one knows what is going to happen today, tomorrow or next month. So how about we put all of this anger and jealousy away for now and worry about keeping everyone alive. Are we still on for tonight's Scooby meeting at the cabin?"

Kennedy shook her head and left the room. She didn't want to be around any of the Scoobies anymore. She knew that Buffy was right, the only one who knew what Willow wanted, was Willow. And that now wasn't the time for that decision. They all needed to work together at least until this demon was destroyed. Because if it wasn't, it could mean the end for her, and Kennedy knew that she wasn't ready to die.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter. 19

On the fourth day, Willow slowly opened her eyes and glanced up at the clock on the dresser. It flashed 4:30am. As she tried to get out of the bed, she felt Kennedy's arm tighten around her. Willow smiled as Kennedy snuggled her head into the side of Willow's neck and whispered "Love you, Will."

Willow smiled as she felt the warm comfort that Kennedy's presence always had on her. But the last few days hadn't been the easiest for them as a couple. Upon returning from the main house, on the first night back from the hospital, Kennedy remained silent and often kept to herself. She had chosen to stay in the attic by herself while the Scoobies had gone over the plan to finally and permanently kill the Behemon Demon. The following two mornings, Willow had found Kennedy sleeping on the couch as opposed to sleeping in their bed, together. As much as Willow missed the connection that they shared, she couldn't blame Kennedy for wanting to stay away from her. But now that Kennedy was back in their bed with her, Willow let out a sign of relief. Except she knew that she would have to make a decision regarding the status of her relationship with Kennedy and where it stood now that Tara was back in her life.

Willow was happy that Tara was alive and back in her life. But there were times that she wished that she could go back to her old life. Things were simpler before Willow brought Tara back. She was happy with her relationship with Kennedy and she enjoyed teaching the young slayers, while still fighting evil along Buffy's side. Tara's return left Willow feeling as though nothing in her life would ever be the same.

But spending the last few days with Tara, proved to be more difficult than Willow had expected. She knew the hurt that she was causing Tara except Willow was also able to see a glimmer of hope in Tara's eyes. A part of Willow also hoped that they would find their way back to each other, one day.

Her first night back from the hospital, proved to Willow that Tara had no idea how powerful Willow truly was and that she was still clearly against Willow's use of black magic in order to perform the Coindum Spell. Willow understood Tara's fears; she was terrified as well, except Willow knew that the spell was their best option to finally destroying the demon. At one point, Tara had even gone as far as to insist on doing the spell with Willow. But this was unacceptable for the red headed witch, she didn't want Tara to ever touch anything resembling the dark arts for fear that it would tarnish Tara's pure white power.

Willow pushed her thoughts aside as she noticed the sun began to rise over the lake. Knowing that it could very well be her last night alive, Willow knew that she wanted to watch the sunrise from the beach, one last time. As she tried a second time to climb out of the bed, Kennedy's firm grip on her waist anchored her down, yet again. Willow decided to try another course of action. "Ken, the sun is rising."

"Let it rise. I'm too comfortable. I love holding my girl." Kennedy replied, still half-asleep.

"You can bring the blanket and pillow outside. We'll lay down on the beach." Willow then continued to herself, under her breath. "It might be my last sunrise, and I want to, at least, be able to say that I enjoyed it."

The moment that Kennedy heard the sadness and fear in Willow's voice, she awoke instantly. "Baby, I won't let anything happen to you. And you know that I always get what I want." Kennedy replied, trying to calm Willow's worries. 'I get everything I want, except probably the thing that I want the most. You.' She thought to herself. Kennedy knew what she had to do, not just for herself but also for Willow.

"I'd really like to watch this sunrise with you. Please, Kennedy?" Willow quietly requested. She knew that in case she died that night, she wanted to spend one more sunrise in Kennedy's arms.

"I'd do anything for you, Willow. Okay, let's go watch that sunrise." Kennedy noticed Willow slightly wince as she climbed off of the bed. "Let me help you." She offered, jumping off of the bed.

Willow smiled as Kennedy wrapped one arm around her waist and the other under her elbow. "Thank you. I thought that I'd have my strength back by tonight but I guess I was wrong."

"You'll have to take some strength from me, again. Right?" Kennedy herself winced as she recalled the pain that had passed through her, the last time that Willow had taken her power from her. But Kennedy knew that she would endure any amount of pain necessary, in order to keep Willow alive.

"I'm sorry, but I might have to. I'm so sorry, Kennedy. I know that it's wrong…" Willow started to apologize profusely until Kennedy interrupted her.

"But it's how you work. And your work is the only thing that can keep all of us alive right now. It's okay, Willow, I know what to expect now. " Kennedy finished.

Willow felt her love for Kennedy grow as she realized that Kennedy truly was the only one who truly understood what Willow needed to do in order to save them. Willow knew that Buffy and Xander supported her, but they still seemed fearful every time she did a spell. And she couldn't blame them; she had almost ended the world with magic. The only person who didn't support her, in regards to her use of magic was Tara. Willow understood that her addiction to magic was still fresh in Tara's mind; to her it had only happened recently. Except for Willow, her recovery had been a long and torturous road, where she was forced to face some of her darkest demons, in order to help save the world from evil. Willow wished that there was a way for Tara to understand the events that had occurred in Willow's life since her death. But Willow knew that it was impossible.

The moment Willow was outside with Kennedy by her side, she instantly relaxed knowing that she wouldn't be alone when the time came to do the spell. Willow knew that it was important for her to try and keep a positive state of mind in order to complete the dark spell correctly. 'And what a better way of relaxing than in the arms of someone who loves me.' She thought to herself.

As the two women reached the sand, Kennedy quickly spread out the first blanket as she dropped the pillows that she was carrying. She then walked back to Willow's side and slowly assisted Willow in lowering herself onto the sand.

Willow enjoyed the feel of the sand on her bare feet; she knew that it could possibly be the last time that she would feel it. As Kennedy helped her become comfortable on the blanket, Willow slowly leaned her head onto Kennedy shoulder. "I can't believe that we missed a whole week's worth of sunrises, it makes me sad to think that we've missed that something so beautiful."

"I just have to look at you to see something beautiful." Kennedy replied as she kissed the top of Willow's head, taking the time to memorize the scent of Willow's hair. "But I know what you mean. I've missed this, too."

They laid in each other's embrace as the sun rise over the mountains, on the other side of the lake. Both women remained in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Willow didn't want to ever forget the feeling of pure calmness that she felt at that moment. She wondered if she would ever have that feeling again with Tara. Before Tara had died, Willow could never have imagined feeling so relaxed with anyone else but now, every time that they were in the same room, there seemed to be a heated energy between them. It wasn't as though Willow didn't enjoy the new energy between them, but it did sometimes make it difficult for her to think clearly, especially the closer they are to each other.

She was suddenly overwhelmed by guilt as she realized that she had been thinking about another woman's touch while she was in her girlfriend's arms. Kennedy had been nothing but loving and supportive towards her and she knew that the young slayer didn't deserve anything that she had done to her, especially in the last week. Willow knew that she loved Kennedy but she wondered if it was enough to last a lifetime. 'A lifetime.' She laughed at the thought. When people fought evil the way that they did, their life expectancy was greatly reduced. At the age of twenty-two, Buffy was the oldest slayer that had ever existed, even if she did technically die twice. Willow understood that she often put her life in danger to help Buffy fight evil, but she knew that it was her own choice. Except for Kennedy, it wasn't her choice to be chosen as a slayer. As a slayer, Kennedy's life was in constant danger due to the fact that she was constantly being attacked by vampires and demons. Willow wondered if by keeping Kennedy at the school, she was in some way sabotaging Kennedy's chances of survival. She knew that Kennedy was a great slayer but she also knew that Kennedy would never be able to achieve true greatness as long as she stayed in Trona. And as long as she remained hidden in Buffy's shadow. Willow felt as though she would be the on to blame if anything ever did happen to Kennedy. And yet, because of her, Kennedy's life was now in danger.

But Willow knew that she would easily sacrifice herself in order to protect both Kennedy and Tara. And she also knew that that may likely have to happen because if anything were to happen, preventing her from completing the spell, the only way to kill this demon would be to call upon Apep, which would likely end up killing her. Willow knew that she couldn't tell anyone about her backup plan because if they knew, they would never allow her to do it. "Kennedy, there's something that you need to know…"

"Shhhh, Will. I just want to spend this time holding you." Kennedy didn't want this time to end; yet she knew that Tara would soon be arriving at the cottage to change Willow's bandages. She hated how close the two witches seemed to be with each other. Kennedy wished that she shared that same closeness with Willow, but Kennedy also knew that she had something that Tara didn't. She had Willow's trust.

Willow knew that she would support her in anything that she wanted to do, whether it was something totally off-the-wall silly or something a lot more serious, like testing the limits of her powers. Kennedy had seen with her own eyes, just how much Tara disapproved of Willow's use of magic. Every time someone had mentioned Willow doing the Coindum spell, Tara would instantly go to Willow and try to convince her to change her mind. Kennedy knew that Willow didn't need the additional stress and negativity before doing such a dangerous spell, especially since it was clear that the redheaded witch still hadn't recovered from her last encounter with this demon. And since Willow was weaker than usual, it likely meant that she wouldn't only have to take Kennedy's strength but there was also the possibility that Willow may lose herself to the darkness, again. "And I know. I don't like it but I know. I can promise you this, I'll be right by your side. If you go down I'm going down with you."

-- --

Tears streamed down her face as she quickly walked back to the main house. Tara never thought that something as simple as two people watching a sunrise, could bring her so much pain.

Earlier that morning, Tara had awoken before the sun had even risen. She remembered that Willow had complained, the day before, that she missed watching the sunrise. And since Tara knew that Kennedy had been spending her nights on the couch, she thought that it would be nice to awaken Willow, allowing them to the sun rise together.

The last couple of days were some of the best and most difficult days of her life. She had spent hours with Willow as she changed her bandages. They often talked about things that had happened within the last two years, such as Willow's time with the coven in Scotland, the arrival of The First to the opening of the slayer school after the fall of Sunnydale. Tara felt as though there was still a chance that she could be with Willow again. There had even been times when Tara had even forgotten that they were no longer a couple. Even the intensity between them had grow fierce, Tara felt as though she were on fire every time they touched. Which proved very difficult to deal with, especially when she had to change Willow's bandages. A part of Tara wished that they would just give into the feeling, but she also knew that that would hurt Kennedy. Which wasn't something that she wanted to ever do.

She had hoped to able to watch Willow sleep for a few minutes before waking her up, allowing them to watch the sunrise together. Tara knew that she wanted to spend as much time as possible with Willow before she did the spell. Tara still held on to hope that she would be able to somehow convince Willow that there had to be another way to destroy the demon; the dark arts were too dangerous. She knew that in Willow's vulnerable state, she would be less likely able to defend herself against such darkness. Unfortunately, nothing that Tara had tried had managed to change Willow's mind. Willow was convinced that the Coindum Spell was the only way of killing this demon. And Tara couldn't believe that the same people who claimed to love Willow, were the same one who were encouraging her to do the spell.

But Tara hopes for a future with Willow, were crushed as she approached Willow's cabin. It was at that point that she saw something that absolutely broke her heart. Willow was already awake and watching the sun rise, in Kennedy's arms.

Instantly Tara turned around and began running back down towards the main house. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. She thought that her and Willow were making progress. Tara knew that Willow and Kennedy were still a couple but she had only seen them show affection for each other, a couple of times.

And as innocent as watching the sunrise together might be, Tara knew that the it held a stronger meaning for Willow and Kennedy. Both Buffy and Xander had explained to her that it was the only time that the couple was sure to not be bothered by any of the young slayers. Tara feared that Willow had already made her decision.

Tara continued to run until she reached the clearing to the main house. She paused for a minute, wiping the tears from her eyes, before walking towards the large mansion-style building. She knew that if she were to walk into the house, looking upset, someone was bound to start asking questions. Although she enjoyed being near the Scoobies again and meeting all of the new slayers, she only wanted to be alone with her thoughts. Kennedy had won, and it was obvious that Willow had chosen to remain with Kennedy. Tara wondered what the reasons were behind Willow's decision. She knew that it probably had something to do with the differences in both relationships. From what she had both seen and heard, Kennedy was Willow's number one supporter when it came to Willow's use of dangerous spells. 'That has to be the reason. Willow knows that I wouldn't support her in putting her life and soul in danger. But I love her more than anything. I just don't want to lose Willow, my Willow. Kennedy's Willow.' Tara wondered if she had been more supportive of Willow, maybe Willow would have chosen her as opposed the young slayer. She quickened her pace towards the house as fresh tears threatened to fall.

"Tara! Wait up!"

Tara knew that she didn't have the emotional strength to talk to anyone at the moment; she wanted to be alone to grieve the loss of her soul mate's love. She continued walking towards the main house, hoping that the person, who had called her name, would simply think that she hadn't heard them.

"Tara! Stop."

Tara slowed down her pace as she heard someone running behind her. She turned around to find Dawn running towards her. "Hi Dawn. Right now isn't a good time for me."

Dawn could see the pain in Tara's eyes. And to see a pain so pure, her hatred for Kennedy grew. Dawn felt as though Kennedy should have willing stepped aside when Willow brought Tara back from the dead. But the young slayer didn't, it seemed like she was going to fight to stay with Willow. At the same time, Dawn couldn't understand why Willow hadn't already left Kennedy to be with Tara. They belonged together, and Dawn believed that with her whole heart. "Are you okay? Of course you're not. You wouldn't be crying if you were."

"I'm sorry, Dawn. Everything is so overwhelming, especially with tonight being the big night." Tara began to cry as Dawn pulled the blond witch into her arms.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know that you're probably scared about tonight but that's not why you're crying. I saw them too." Dawn knew that Tara needed her, just like Tara was there for her when Buffy died. Dawn thought of Tara as a second mother, she was the only other person, other than her real mother, who had taken the time to really talk to her and she always made sure to include Dawn in anything Scoobie related.

"Willow chose Kennedy. Why would she bring me back if she didn't want to be with me?" Tara continued to cry into Dawn's shoulder. Tara knew that she had the ability to live without Willow in her life, she had done it before. But this time, things were different. This time it was Willow who had chosen to not continue their relationship. Tara was aware of the fact that to Willow, their relationship had been over for almost 2 years. Except that concept was still difficult for Tara to grasp because in her mind, they had only reunited a little over a week ago, after months of torturous separation. But now all of Tara hopes and dreams for a future with Willow were gone.

Dawn knew that seeing Kennedy and Willow in such an intimate setting, was difficult for Tara but Dawn also knew that Willow loved Tara a lot more than she loved Kennedy, even if she didn't admit it to herself. "Willow brought you back because she does love you. Do you seriously think that Willow would have brought you back to us, if she was already over you? It's never going to happen. Willow loves you and there's nothing in this world strong enough to rip the two of you apart. Not even a slayer. And just because you saw Willow and Kennedy together doesn't mean that Willow chose Kennedy. Did you ever think that maybe they're saying goodbye to each other?"

-- -- End of Chapter -- --

_Author's Note: __I want to thank T.M.B for promoting this fanfic on her homepage. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter, we're on the home stretch. Lol. Please take the time to post a review, letting me know what you think about this chapter. And for those who have read this and my other fanfics: A Wolf's Cry and The Power of a Melody, let me know for which fanfic you would like to see a new chapter for. _


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter. 20

Tara didn't know what to think. Seeing them in each other's arms had automatically given her the impression that Willow had already made her choice. It had never occurred to her that Willow might be saying goodbye to Kennedy.

"Tara…"

"I'm sorry, Dawn. I guess that I just never thought about it that way. I just can't lose Willow, again. I love her so much and I know that she loves me too. But she's afraid of hurting Kennedy. Why did I have to die? Willow and I had just found our way back to each other then suddenly I don't exist anymore. It wasn't as though I died and went to one of the heavenly dimensions or even one of the hell dimension. I just fell down then woke up in a cave, two years later." Tara began to babble, similar to the way that Willow often did.

"Willow does love you, probably more than anything else in this world. A part of her died when you died. Do you really believe that she would have gone all evil if she didn't love you?" There wasn't a moment that went by that Dawn didn't remember how Dark Willow wanted to change her back into a key. But Dawn also knew that the Willow who tried to kill her, wasn't the same Willow that she had known for the last 8 years. "And unless you're blind and deaf, you dying kinda changed Willow. She isn't the same happy person that she once was. This Willow is a lot more cautious and serious than she was when you guys were together."

Tara understood what Dawn was trying to tell her. The change in Willow's demeanor had been obvious to her. This caused Tara to wonder if they could still fit into each other's lives. But she knew that she at least wanted a chance to find that out for herself, which would only happen if Willow and Kennedy ended their relationship. "I know that things changed when I… I died… I could never imagine how Willow must have felt, the darkness and pain must have been horrifying. But I'm back now, and I still love her. I don't think that there's anything that could change that. Except Willow. If she tells me that she loves Kennedy more than she loves me, I'll be heartbroken. But if Kennedy makes her happy, then who am I to step in the way?"

"How about you wait till after tonight's demon killing, before you worry about your relationship with Willow? This isn't easy for her, she feels responsible for putting your life and Kennedy's in danger again. That extra stress could seriously affect the outcome of her spell. She needs your support in order to do this. I know that she already has all of our support and Kennedy's but that isn't whose opinion truly matters to her." Dawn attempted to explain.

Tara walked over to the front steps and sat down. "But I can't support her in something that I believe is wrong. There has to be another way. The black arts aren't something that should be played with. And I'm sorry but has everyone forgotten Willow's addiction to magic?"

Dawn accidentally let out a small laugh, she didn't mean it to be rude but she still clearly remembered the consequences of Willow not using her magic. "When Giles brought Willow to the coven, he explained to us that it was a lot more dangerous for Willow to not use magic than it would be for her to just do the important spells. Because if she doesn't use her powers, they just start to build up and that's when things could get dangerous."

It didn't take long for Tara to put the pieces of what she had heard from the others and what Dawn had just said, together. When she died, Willow lost control and gave into the darkness, all because she had quit doing magic. 'It's my fault Willow almost destroyed the world. I'm the one who forced her to quit using magic.'

"When Willow was with the coven, she learned how to properly use magic. That's why I honestly think that she can kill this demon. I don't want to lose you, Willow or even Kennedy, so if that means that Willow has to do something dangerous then it's her choice to make."

"But there has to be another way. A way that doesn't require the use of black magic."

Dawn knew that Tara would never be able to fully understand everything that had happened in the last two years. Despite that she still had hope that Willow and Tara would find their way back to each other, again. But that would only happen, Tara needed to be reassured of Willow's abilities. Suddenly Dawn thought of a way to possibly make that happen. "Maybe there is a way to do it without using black magic, but we don't have the time now to totally abandon Willow's plan. The demon is coming back tonight. I'm sorry, Tara, but I have to run over to Willow's. I accidentally left a couple of my schoolbooks in the attic, last night. If you want, you can hang out in my room, none of the other girls will bother you, in there."

Tara wiped the last tears from her eyes as she hugged Dawn, silently thanking the young woman. Tara couldn't believe how much Dawn had grown in the last 2 years. When she died, Dawn had only been 15 years old but now she was about to celebrate her 17th birthday. Tara began to wonder what other things that she had missed in the lives of the people that she still considered family. "Thank you for listening to me cry about Willow. You've brought up a lot of good points, a lot of things that I hadn't thought about before. But are you sure that it's okay for me to go do that thinking in your room?"

Dawn smiled, she felt as though her plan might work. "Tara, I wouldn't have offered, if it wasn't okay. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I am so happy that you're here, promise me that you'll never leave again?"

Tara pulled Dawn into yet another hug. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I can promise you this. No matter what, I'll always be here for you. Maybe you should go get those books now?"

Dawn laughed as she stood up and turned back towards Tara. "Yeah, I should go and get that. If I don't finish this essay for Willow, she'll probably make me write another one when she gets better." Dawn cringed at the thought of still having to do her homework while everyone else, including most of the new slayers, were preparing for that night's events. As she left Tara, who had already walked back into the house, Dawn knew what she had to do, especially now that she knew exactly where Tara stood on everything from her feelings for the redheaded witch to Willow's use of magic.

-- --

As Buffy walked towards Willow's cabin, she knew that things were about to change. Even if Willow did succeeded in destroying the demon, she would then have to decide who she loved the most. Buffy didn't envy Willow's decision in the least. She only hoped that her best friend was strong enough to make that decision without losing herself in the emotions. Buffy had very little doubt that Willow could kill the demon. Willow had already proven to everyone that she was most likely the most powerful Wiccan in the world, even if she refused to admit it. Except this time, Willow wasn't using her powers to change something; she would be using them to kill something that could easily decide to kill someone else. Someone that she loved. And that's where the potential problem came into play. Because of the fact that Willow was so emotionally attached to both Kennedy and Tara, her love for each of them would likely cloud her judgment, especially because Willow was likely to believe that she held their lives in her hands. That was why Buffy knew that she had to check on her best friend and she hoped that Kennedy would allow them to talk in private.

Once Willow's cottage was in view, Buffy took a quick moment to enjoy the scenery around the lake. That was when noticed Willow and Kennedy laying on the beach, watching as the sun slowly rose into the sky. As she approached the couple, she hoped that they weren't sleeping.

-- --

"Kennedy, wake up. Buffy's coming." Willow whispered into Kennedy's ear.

Kennedy slowly opened her eyes, staring directly into Willow's. "I wasn't sleeping, I was relaxing. I've missed just holding you. And how do you know that she's coming?"

Willow smiled softly as she rested her head back onto Kennedy's shoulder. "I can feel her. Every slayer has an energy and since I did the big magic, I've been able to feel each individual slayer."

"I'm not too sure if I like the idea of you feeling other slayers. Sounds like it could be kinda kinky." Kennedy tried to hold back her laughter. But failed as Willow began to pout. "Fine. Fine. Let's get up. I know that she'll probably want to talk to you alone, anyways." She replied before lightly kissing Willow's lips.

Willow returned the kiss, knowing that it could possibly be the last time that she would kiss the young slayer. As Kennedy pulled away, breathlessly, Willow apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It's unfair to you."

"Willow, don't worry about me. I'm the one who kissed you first. I'm just happy that you kissed me back this time."

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Buffy asked, announcing her presence.

Kennedy sat up and looked up at Buffy, silently, for a few seconds before replying. "You're not interrupting. We knew that you were coming."

As Kennedy helped her sit up, Willow laughed at the look of confusion on Buffy's face. "I sensed your power getting closer. That's how I knew that you were coming."

"Oh, the whole being-able-to-feel-slayers thing. Now I get it. Well I just thought that I'd stop by and go over everything for tonight again, with you. I just want to make sure that we're ready for anything that this demon might do." Buffy knew that there was a good chance that Willow hadn't told them everything about her plan to kill this demon. But she also knew that she would never be able to convince Willow to confide in her, while Kennedy was around.

But before Willow could answer, Kennedy chose to make the decision for her. "Will, go ahead. I'm just going to sit out here and enjoy the silence."

Willow turned to Kennedy, wanting to make sure that Kennedy just hadn't said that it was okay because she felt obligated to. But the warm smile that Kennedy gave her, told Willow that she really didn't mind Willow leaving to go and talk to Buffy. "Can you help me with something later?" She asked the young dark-haired slayer.

"Anything." Kennedy answered as she helped Willow onto her feet, wrapping her arms around the witch's waist.

"Thank you. I'll talk to you about it after." Willow knew that she didn't really need Kennedy's help, but this way she was ensuring that they would have at least one more moment together before the day ended and their night began.

Before Kennedy allowed Willow to leave her embrace, she turned to Buffy and warned. "You'd better take care of my girl." Kennedy had hoped to be able to enjoy more time alone with Willow, yet she knew that it was impossible for her to think with her head as opposed to her heart, with Willow in her arms.

"Kennedy, I promise you that I'll always take care of you." Buffy replied, sensing that there had been a double meaning in Kennedy's warning.

"Did I miss something? Because if I did, I really think that I need more rest before tonight." Willow felt as though she had somehow missed part of the conversation between the two slayers.

Kennedy slowly tucked a piece of Willow's hair behind her ears as she answered her girlfriend's question. "You didn't miss a thing."

"It has to be a slayer thing." Willow determined.

Both Buffy and Kennedy laughed in response to Willow's comment. "Come on, Will. We still have a lot to go over before tonight and I want to get some more training done with the girls before nightfall. Don't worry, Kennedy will still be here when we're finished."

"I know. I know. Lets go." Willow laughed as she removed her arms from Kennedy's neck. Before she could attempt to take a step forward on her own, she felt Buffy's arm wrap around her waist.

"I've got you, Willow." Buffy reassured her.

"I can walk on my own, it just might take me a little longer to get there." Willow hadn't realize how much she enjoyed her independence until this point. Since her return from the hospital, Willow found it difficult to do even the simplest of things, which caused her to worry. 'If I can't even walk on my own, how am I going to be able to kill this demon?'

Buffy turned to Kennedy as she followed Willow's lead towards the cabin and smiled as Kennedy softly smiled back at her. Buffy didn't know what Kennedy had planned but she had a feeling that Kennedy had already made her decision. Buffy just didn't know what decision the young slayer had made. Had she decided to stay and fight to keep her relationship with Willow or move to Cleveland to join Faith's team.

As Kennedy watched Buffy and Willow enter the small cabin, she sat back down onto the blanket and asked herself. "Willow wants me but does she need me?"

_End of Chapter._

Author's Notes: Please take the time to post a review. Every review, whether good or bad, is greatly appreciate. This fanfic is coming to an end and I hope that everyone is still enjoying it. I hope to have another chapter posted soon and trust me, the next one is when things get interesting.


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